CENTENNIAL EDITION. PATHOLOGICAL -;'if J. B. COLEMAN, M. E. C. V. S. 3 9090 013 418 609 Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University 200 Westboro Road Wnrth Grafton. MA (11536 1/ NO FOOT. NO HORSE.' PATHOLOGICAL HORSE -SHOEING: A THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE SHOEING OF HORSES. BY WHICH EVERY DISEASE AFFECTING THE FOOT OF THE HORSE MAY BE ABSOLUTELY CURED OR AMELIORATED, AND DEFECTIVE ACTION OF THE LIMBS EFFECTIVELY CORRECTED. THE RATIONALE OF WHICH IS FULLY EXPLAINED AND DESCRIBED. EMBRACING ALSO AN OUTLINE OF THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FOOT OF THE HORSE, AND A COPIOUS GLOSSARY, FORMULARY AND INDEX. BY JOSEPH BRINE COLEMAN, V. S., Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and member of the Veterinary Medical Association of London, England. MA Y BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS. CH I CAGO: Published by the Author, at the Office ok Henky Fish & Co., Pkinteks and Publishers. 140 Clark Street. 1876. ^3 Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1876, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. The right 0/ translation is strictly reserved. INDEX Anatomy and Physiology of the Foot of the Horse — General Remarks 16 Definitions 18 External Structures of the Foot 18 The Wall 18 Composition of 19 Form of 19 Shape of 20 Bars, Braces, or Buttresses of 20 Laminated Internal Surface of 21 Epidermis or Cuticle of 22 Coronary Concavity 20 Angle of Inflection, Abnormal 21 Horny Sole and its Functions 23 Peculiarities of Structure 24 Horny Frog and its Functions 24 Peculiar Properties of 25 Internal Apex of 25 Remarkable Appendix to 25 Coronary Frog-band 26 Fleming's Description of 27 Internal Tissues of the Foot — Its Parts Particularized 28 Bone, Chemical Constitution of 28 General Characteristics of 29 Bones of the Foot 30 Os Pedis 30 "A Mockery, A Delusion, and A Snare." 31 Pedestal of the Column 32 Remarkable Construction of 32 Essential Importance of the Foot 32 Os Coronae 33 Os Naviculare '. 33 Stellate Ligaments of 34 Cartilaginous Structures of the Foot 35 Lateral Cartilages 35 Inferior Cartilages 35 Articular Cartilage 36 Remarkable Characteristics of 37 Buffers and Gilding Surfaces 37 A Knotty Question 38 Ligamentous Textures of the Foot 39 Coronary Ligament 39 Functions of 39 Reasons versus Ipse Dixits 40 Periosteal and Endosteal Membranes... . 41 Sensitive Laminae 42 An Undetermined Question 43 Interperiosteal Pad 43 Relative Weights Sustained by Fore and Hind Limbs 44 Facilis Decensus Avernus 45 Sensitive Sole 46 An Erroneous Conception Exposed 46 Mr. Fleming, Rise and Explain 47 The Solar Zone 47 Sensitive Frog 47 Functions of 49 Characteristic Structure of 48 Importance of Healthy Condition of. . . . . 49 Structure Indicates Function 49 Maximum and Minimum of Lateral Move- ments 50 Summary of Views 50 Tendons and Tendinous Textures — Par ticularized 51 General Character of 51 Important Anatomical Fact 52 Flexor Tendons 52 Remarkable Mechanical Arrangements of 53 Three-fold Functions of 54 Extensor Tendons 54 Accessories of 55 The True Suspensor 56 Low Instep, Frequent Source of Lameness 54 Antagonizing Forces 56 Secret of Knee Action 57 Tendinous Expansions 57 Lesser Ligaments of the Articulations. . . 57 Synovial Membranes 58 Diseases of, and their Sequela; 58 A Common Error Corrected 58 The Circulatory System of the Foot 60 Arteries 60 General Remarks Upon 60 Characteristics of 61 iv. Microscopic Anatomy of .... 61 The Plantar Arteries, Description of 62 The Plantar Capillaries 64 Physiological Facts 65 Veins 66 Microfcopic Anatomy of 66 Anatomical Arrangement Described 68 Veins of the Foot Have No Valves. . . . 67 The Reason Why 68 Lymphatics of the Foot 69 Scavengers or Sanatory Agents 70 Lymphatic Glands 71 Nerves 71 General Remarks Upon Nervous System 71 Nerves of the Foot 72 Distributive Arrangement of 72 Is the Equine Foot an Organ of Special Sensation ? 73 Prima Facie Reasons 74 Analogical Argument 74 An Objection Anticipated 75 Experientia Docet 75 Relative Sensibility of the Equine Foot . 76 Causes of Impaired Action 76 Sub-acute Laminitis 77 Acute Laminitis 77 General Causes — Diverse Effects . . 78 Injuries from Nailing on the Shoe 78 Source of Pain in the Foot 79 External Sources of Pain in the Foot 80 Muscular Spasms, or Cramp 80 Non-Inflammatory Affections 89 The " Ragged Edge " 80 Possible Cause of Stringhalt 81 Secreting Structures of the Foot — Par- ticularized 82 " Ample Room and Verge Enough " 82 Constitution of Secreting Villi 83 Fluid Elements of the Foot Particularized 83 Physical Properties of the Blood 83 Important Physiological Facts 83 Red and White Blood-Cells 84 Chemico-vital Changes in the Blood .... 84 Judicious Mechanical Expansion 85 The " No-Contraction and Non-Expan- sion Heresies 86 Preliminary Remarks 86 Facts versus Theories 87 Contraction as a Morbid Condition 88 The Reviewer Reviewed 8S Age not the Gage of Experience 89 11 Be Just and Fear Not " 89 Essence of Gamgee 89 1 he Case Stated 90 An Important Omission Supplied 91 " Language the Key to the Sciences "... 91 Authorized Definitions 92 What Does Atrophy Mean ? 92 Value of the Word Atrophy 93 Facts versus Fallacies 93 Varieties of Feet — How Produced 94 Effects of Dry Atmosphere 94 Varieties and Effects of Contraction 95 The Invariable Cause of Quarter-Crack. 95 The Diseases of the Foot of the Horse — Contraction — Symptoms and Treat- ment 97 Positive and Negative Evidence 97 Preparation of the Foot 98 Form 99 The Best Kind of Shoe 100 Nail-holes and Nailing 101 Acute Laminitis — Acute Rheumatism — Acute Founder— Proximate Causes of. 103 Symptoms and Treatment 102 A Puzzling Problem 104 The Cure, " That is the Question " io4 Octogenarian Veterinarians 104 The Kind of Reception 105 Special Points in Shoeing for Laminitis. . 105 Broad's Laminitis Shoe 106 A Point of Importance 106 The Rolling Motion Expedient 106 Depletion, When Desirable 107 Constitutional Treatment 107 Chronic Laminitis — Chronic Founder — Pumiced Foot 108 Authorized Errors Combated 108 Support the Sole 108 "Stubborn Facts" versus "High Author- ity" 109 A Demonstrable Fact 109 The Why and the Wherefore 109 Common-Sense Shoeing the Desideratum no How to shoe the Pumiced Foot no Navicular Disease — Causes and Symp- toms in Rheumatic Symptoms 112 Treatment 113 Ringbone — Etiology and Pathology 113 Treatment 113 Sidebones — Ossification of the Lateral Cartilages— Etiology and Pathology. 114 Treatment 115 Corn — Causes and Symptoms 115 The Old Theory 116 The Writer's Theory 115 v. Contraction, or Lateral Pressure, the Cause of Corn 116 .Treatment of Corn 116 Concomitants of Contraction 117 No Bar-Shoes Necessary for the Cure of Any Corn 117 Suppurating Corn 117 Nothing Like Expansion of the Quarters to Cure Corn 118 Toe-Crack and Quarter-Crack— Etiology and Pathology n8 Contractionists, and Non-Contractionists 119 Solid Proofs Wanted, Not Fallacious Ar- guments ii9 The True Rationale of Quarter-Crack . . 120 Centers of Rotation, or Motion 120 Correlative Movements 121 Rationale of Treatment 121 A Sine Qua Non 142 An Exploded Fallacy 122 Quarter Before, Toe Behind 125 The Cause, Par Excellence 123 What to Do, What Not to Do 123 False Quarter— Shelly Foot— Seedy Toe. 124 False Quarter 12. Treatment I2c Shelly Foot I2<= Treatment I2c Seedy Toe— Special Characteristics 126 General Treatment I27 Grease - Scratches— Chapped Heels- Thrush— Etiology and Pathology ... 128 Fatty Follicles and Their Functions 128 Crowding and Dwarfing the Tissues 128 Difficult to Misunderstand 129 The Machinery out of Gear 129 Bad Enough at That ... = I3o Treatment of Grease or Scratches 130 Treatment of Thrush 13I The All-Important Adjunct i3I Treatment of Canker i31 Some Cures Contrary to All Expectation i3i Atrophy of the Foot— Dry Rot i33 Contraction, Both Cause and Conse- quence 133 General Principles of Treatment i33 Accidental Injuries I33 Calking the Instep 134 Characteristics of Quittor 134 A Remarkable Resemblance i34 The Most Powerful A djunct i3S Tetanus or Locked-Jaw — Etiology and Pathology I35 Mysterious Intertransmutations of Disease 136 Ml Facts of Pathology 137 Concurrent, or Predisposing Causes 137 Invaluable Adjunctive Measure 138 Stringhalt— A Mysterious Malady 139 Notes and Queries i43ti3 -affection known as Ring-bone. It is so short and firmly braced to its position that it rarely becomes dislocated, but is not quite so rarely the subject of fracture. OS NAVICULARE. SYNONYMS — Navicular _Bone — Shuttle Bone. This bone in its natural position, lies transversely between the wings of the coffin-bone. It averages about two inches in length ; half an inch in breadth ; and three eighths of an inch at its thickest part. It has three surfaces of articulation, the smallest with the coffin bone, the largest with the perforans tendon and the medial sized one with the small pastern. It is held in position by remarkably strong ligaments, and are respectively named the interosseus ligament uniting it inferiorly with the coffin bone ; two anterior, and two posterolateral, that unite it with the small pastern. Besides these, from either end of the bone proceed three ligaments. As they radiate from the end of the bone as from a central point, they are called the Stellate ligaments. The insertions of these ligaments embrace about half a circle, the middle ligament going straight from the end of the bone 34 to the highest part of the lateral cartilage, the anterior and posterior stellates going respectively to the most anterior and the most posterior edge of the same cartilages. STELLATE LIGAMENTS AND THEIR USES. Let us philosophize a moment upon the function of these stellate ligaments. A familiar illustration of their use, I think, may be found in the Stay-straps we see under the bodies of coaches and other vehicles, provided with springs, and intended to be driven at rapid rates, and over rough roads. Their use * is, perhaps, too obvious to need description. A sailor would call them guy-ropes. To my view, these stellate ligaments have a similar function. They materially assist in keeping the fulcrum, that is, the navicular bone, of the main cord that flexes the foot in exact apposition to the gliding surface of that cord ; otherwise, rapid motion would be retarded. From whichever direction the disturbing force might proceed, there is a species of guy-rope arrangeme?it to resist it. This is not their only func- tion. Under extraordinary exertion the frog-structures may condense too forcibly and rebound too strongly to be altogether free from danger. They then possess a regulative function. More, under or- dinary circumstances, when there is no excessive action to control, they form powerful auxiliaries to the spring-like move- ments of the elastic structures. The frog-cushion is the great spring-bed of the foot. The lateral cartilages, one on each side, constitute a pair of springs, that are called into play through the medium of the stellate ligaments. These latter are strong and unyielding, while the lateral cartilages possess the properties of flexibility and rebounding in the highest de- gree. I think it impossible to conceive, in any organized structure, of means more perfectly adapted to ends than in the structural arrangements of the stellate ligaments. 35 CARTILAGINOUS STRUCTURES OF THE FOOT. These structures include, « I. The Lateral Cartilages. 2. The Inferior Cartilages. 3. The Articular Cartilages. THE LATERAL CARTILAGES. The Lateral Cartilages are the two cartilaginous bodies already referred to as receiving the attachments of the stellate ligaments of the navicular bone. They are situated upon the superior margin of the wings of the coffin bone, and their position as regards the hoof is about equally within as without that structure. Their superior portions can easily be felt and manipulated by the fingers in the living subject, and the ex- tent to which they may have lost their flexibility pretty nearly ascertained. Externally they are convex, internally concave. Membranous expansions connect them with the extensor ten- don and the coronal bone anteriorly. Posteriorly they be- come thinner, and are extended downwards and inwards, imparting roundness and flexibility to the heels, and afford considerable protection to those parts against casualties by their characteristic properties of firmness and resiliency. The portion of these cartilages that lies in apposition to the lamellated structure of the wall has corresponding laminae for connection therewith. From the inferior extremities of these cartilages, supplementary ones extend, which have been named INFERIOR CARTILAGES and False Cartilages. Mr. Spooner thus describes them : " They are triangular bodies, and somewhat different in struc- ture from the lateral cartilages. They proceed from the lateral cartilages (just as the latter reach the heels of the coffin-bone) in an obliquely forward direction, on the internal and inferior parts of the wings of that bone, and thus afford a smooth sur- face, which is covered partly by the sensible laminae, and partly by the sensible sole. The inferior are much more fibrous in their structure than Ihe lateral cartilages, and the latter become 36 less cartilaginous toward their upper and posterior part." If the structure of a tissue is any indication of its function, as I believe it will be found to be, then the function of the inferior cartilages is not precisely that of the lateral cartilages, for we find the former much more fibrous in character than the latter; and it is remarkable that the lateral cartilages themselves pos- sess a fibrous border where the stellate ligaments are inserted, and posteriorly where it is connected with the inferior cartil- ages it assumes a more fibrous character generally. The infer- ence is irresistable, drawn from the structure of these cartilages alone, that the lateral cartilages fulfill the office of a pair of side springs, having the property of yielding and rebounding with every motion of the foot, and aiding and regulating in some measure the vertical movements of the elastic tissues of the frog, through the medium of the stellate ligaments superiorly, while inferiorly it is kept in position, aided, and undue move- ments controlled by the strong and comparatively unyielding character of the inferior cartilages. The lateral cartilages are subject to ossification, that is to say, of becoming converted partially or wholly into bone. En- largements are not unfrequently met with, of one or both car- tilages. These are not necessarily ossifications, but they are evidences of a derangement of structure and function, the causes of which will be discussed further on. The lateral and inferior cartilages are covered by a dense tough membrane called the perichondrium, which performs a similar office for cartilaginous to that of the periosteum for osseous structures. ARTICULAR CARTILAGE. This is sometimes referred to as cartilage of encrustation, because this particular kind is only to be found encrusting or adhering to the articular surfaces of bones. As some theorists on the pathology of navicularthritis deem this disease to have its origin, as a rule, in the disorganization of this structure it may not be uninstructive to learn somewhat of its nature and uses. 37 BUFFERS AND GLIDING SURFACES. Bones are the solid frame-work of the whole body and pos- sess but little elasticity. These supporting and moving structures being also in sec- tions and destined to move freely upon the ends of each other, would have been peculiarly liable to concussion, and their moving surfaces susceptible to attrition but for the interven- tion of a substance of such a nature that would fully meet both requirements. Such a substance we have in articular cartilage. It combines those properties in the most eminent degree, that break the violence of concussion, and by its extremely smooth and glass-like surface, with the aid of the synovial fluid as a lubricator enables the moving surfaces to glide on each other with the greatest facility. Its anti-concussive functions may be likened to those of the buffers upon the different sections of a railway train ; while its free-gliding purposes may be fitly illustrated by those of the smooth portions of the axle trees upon which the train moves. ARTICULAR CARTILAGE; REMARKABLE CHARACTERISTICS. It is remarkable too, that no nerves or blood-vessels are found in articular cartilage, while they are found in all other kinds of cartilage. Why is this ? Because it would be incom- patible with the exercise of its functions if it possessed either sensibility or vascularity. In the former case, every jar or quick movement would be necessarily attended by pain ; and in the latter the vessels would be liable to rupture and extra- vasation of their contents, when the weight of the animal was thrown upon these structures. As nutrition and decay are necessary and constant processes, the nutrient blood-vessels that supply these cartilages approach them as closely as possible at their base from the interior of the bone to which they belong, not terminating in the cartilage, but abutting against their base by large numbers of small loops, the cartilage having the property of imbibing their nutrient particles from mere contact with the circular terminations of 38 these vascular loops, by the process called cell-imbibition. The cells at first are round, but gradually acquire a flattened form, until, at the wearing surface they become very dense and horn-like in texture. Like as in the hoof and epidermic struct- tures, the outlying particles are being continually pressed upon toward the external surface, and pass off in the processes of wear or natural decay. In such a case absorbents are unne- cessary and therefore none are present. The due secretion of the synovial fluid is necessary to keep the gliding surfaces of these cartilages moist, a condition necessary to the perfect fulfillment of their office in the general organization. In chronic disease of the navicular joint, it has been ocasion- ally found that these cartilages have become abraded from attrition, and in some instances the cartilaginous covering of the navicular bone has been found adhering to the perforans tendon, of which that, bone is the fulcrum in its action upon the coffin-bone. A KNOTTY QUESTION. Scarcely any question in the whole range of veterinary path- ological inquiry has excited so much animated discussion and such contrariety of opinion as that of the proximate cause or causes of the navicular-joint disease. Few, even amongst the ablest veterinary pathologists recognize more than one general proximate cause for this foot affection ; and there is not a tissue entering into the composition of the joint, which has not its advocates for its claims to consideration as the chief tissue in- volved in this complaint. Some view it as proceeding exclu- sively from internal and other from external causes. The bones, the cartilages, the synovia or its secreting membrane, the perforans tendon, hereditary predisposition, mal-nutrition, atrophy, concussion, etc., all have their separate claims put forward by one writer after another for the bad pre-eminence of being the chief proximate cause of this equine curse. But I must not digress too far from the main course of my subject or anticipate my own theory too soon. To be able satisfac- torily to dispose of conflicting hypotheses, it is important that 39 we should thoroughly understand the nature and uses of every tissue that compose the foot. The articular cartilages are sub- ject to abrasion from a lack of synovia; to ossification from perverted nutrition ; to ulceration from its propinquity to the ulcerative process in the bone when present, and to adhesion to the perforans tendon, when the latter is the subject of in- flammation which is followed by a lymphy exudation. THE LIGAMENTOUS TEXTURES OF THE FOOT. These textures comprise : 1. The coronary ligament. 2. The periosteum and endosteum of bones. 3. The tendons and tendinous expansions of muscles. 4. The perichondrial membranes. 5. The synovial membranes. 6. The ligaments that brace joints. 7. The areolar or connective tissues. THE CORONARY LIGAMENT. Sui generis amongst ligamentous textures is the coronary lig- ament. It is variously designated as the coronary ligament, ba'nd, or substance. I presume there has been some difficulty, from the peculiarity of its structure, in denning its true place in the category of foot-textures. As it is most frequently re- ferred to as the coronary ligament, I have placed it under the head of ligamentous textures, with the above remark as to its anomalous classification. ^FUNCTIONS OF THE CORONARY LIGAMENT. The locale of this ligament is the coronary concavity, just inside of the superior margin of the wall. It is the principal medium of connection between the skin and the hoof. It appears to be transitional in its character, partaking somewhat of the characters of both. Its surface towards the wall is papil- lated, and each papilla penetrates a horn tube, or fibre, of which the fibrous portion of the wall is made up. It is affirmed by one writer, Mr. Fleming, that the entire wall is secreted by 40 this ligament. This, of course, would include the horny lam- inae. I dissent from this opinion for the following reasons: The wall is composed of two kinds of material, the fibrous, and a non-fibrous matrix, which bind the fibres firmly into the solid mass of horn which constitutes the wall of the foot. I am not aware of any secreting structure that secretes more than one specific secretion in a healthy acting condition. But if there should be, it would not be a sufficient reason for attributing the functions of secreting two such widely different substances as compose the walls, to the coronary secreting lig- ament. Each fibre of the wall is fed by its connecting papilla. Besides, we are not left in doubt as to where the matrix comes from. I think that is just as demonstrable as the source of the horny fibres. The vascular laminae have not a merely me- chanical connection with the non-vascular horny laminae — but a secreting function, and it is from this source that the homo- geneous or non-fibrous portion of the wall is derived. If an experimental proof of this is demanded, examples are numerous enough in cases of False-Quarter, and those cases where the hoof has been torn off by violence and the coronary ligament partially or wholly destroyed. In False-Quarter, for instance, the coronary ligament is injured or destroyed, and we have but a thin non-fibrous horny secretion composing the quarters, frequently too weak to sustain the weight of the animal, which could come from no other source than the vascular laminae. « REASONS VERSUS IPSE DIXITS. In cases where the entire hoof has been torn off while the vascular laminae remain otherwise uninjured, a non-fibrous horny material will be deposited all over the sensitive laminae in a few weeks. Does this come from the coronary ligament? It can not, as ten or twelve months will scarcely suffice for the growth of horn from the top to the bottom of the foot. I think these experimental facts too well known to need any further exemplification. Mr. Fleming, in his recent work on Practical Horse-shoeing, asserts that the latter view is an error, " as the microscope, physiology, and pathological experience, 41 abundantly testify." This is all the refutation he has con- descended to give to this alleged error. Supposing it to be an 'error; it can hardly be expected, that those who are accus- tomed to do their own thinking, to weigh the opinions of others for themselves, and to rely on their own pathological experience, when they have any, will readily abandon their opinions with- out a single reason being advanced or a particle of evidence adduced to show that they are erroneous, beyond the mere ipse dixit of any writer, however eminent he may be as an authority in some respects. I repeat, the principal function of the coronary ligament is to secrete the fibrous portion of the wall. It is extremely vascular and highly elastic. The for- mer quality is necessary to supply the demands of rapid wear and tear to which the wall is subject especially in the unshod foot, and to maintain the integrity of the structure it secretes ; the latter to adapt it to the expansive and contractile move- ments of the foot when in action, or when weight is super- imposed upon, or removed from the limb. Although in appear- ance a thickening of the terminal portion of the skin, it has a peculiar and distinct organization to adapt it to its very im- portant purposes. The inner layer is a strong white elastic structure which forms its principal thickness. Upon this reposes a very numerous accumulation of blood-vessels, and external to these a thin coat from which proceed the secreting villi of the wall. The attachments of these villi in the living structure must be of a very powerful nature, as there is no other visible connection between the hoof and the skin except the areolar or connective tissue, which bind it but in no very especial manner to all the subjacent structures. The growth of the wall is in every respect similar to the growth of the human nail. THE PERIOSTEAL AND ENDOSTEAL MEMBRANES. These structures are the dense white-fibrous and non-elastic membranes, the former of which constitutes the external cover- ing, and the latter the internal lining of bones. They are D 42 connected by prolongations of their substance through small conduits in the bone called the Haversian canals. Their func- tion is to give support to the bone within and without, and to furnish a bed whereon the nerves, blood-vessels, and absorbents can ramify. Bones are most amply supplied with nutrient materials by these means, and their disintegrated particles probably carried away by the absorbents. I say, probably, be- cause some physiologists consider it doubtful, at least, whether absorbent vessels exist in bone. The coronal and navicular bones present nothing exceptional as regards their periosteal coverings, but there is a very remarkable peculiarity concern- ing the periosteum of the coffin-bone which I think throws much light upon the constitution and functions of the sensitive laminae, a just appreciation of which has a most important bearing upon the question of shoeing, either in health or disease. Microscopic " anatomy, physiology, and pathological experience," perfectly harmonize in the views I have taken upon this master question of the foot, and the practical meas- ures I have based upon them. THE SENSITIVE LAMINAE. Mr. Spooner says : " The sensitive laminae are somewhat similar in appearance, but very different in structure to the horny laminae, with which they are connected by a dove-tailed union, each horny plate being received between two sensible plates, and vice versa. They are firmly attached by means of elastic (?) membranous structure to the irregular surface of the os pedis ; and are also continued on the lower position of the side car- tilages, where they correspond to the horny laminae, on the inside of the bars of the foot. The sensitive laminae, as their name imports, are extremely sensitive and vascular, and as Mr. Percival says, are composed of a double transparent ?nembrane, plaited as it were around the bone, so that one of the sides of each laminae is in close contact with another, and the other side opposed to a horny lamina. The sensible laminae used to be considered as highly elastic, and writer after writer having 43 copied from each other, without examining for themselves, the error was perpetuated until Mr. Percival demonstrated that ' the elasticity was not inherent in the laminae but in the sub- stance connecting them with the coffin-bone which possesses highly elastic properties, and affords a convenient bed for the numerous blood-vessels which secrete the laminae." AN UNDETERMINED QUESTION. In this connection the late Prof. Spooner, in the course of his lectures, stated substantially as follows : " The precise nature of the union between the vascular and horny laminae is not yet established. I believe it will be found upon more extended microscopic investigation to be similar to, if not iden- tical with that of the chorion of the foetus, and the tunica decidua uteri of the uterus. The same kind of union also exists between the dermis and epidermis. Whatever doubts may exist as to the histological character of this union, what is certainly known is that the union is a vascular and vital, not a mechanical one, and that it is one of extreme delicacy, and ill-calculated to bear the tremendous burden the weight of the animal would impose upon it." THE INTERPERIOSTEAL PAD. It will not be difficult to perceive where this apparent power of elongation comes from, when the peculiar structure of the periosteum of the coffin-bone is fully comprehended. As shown by Percival it is a double membrane, the union of which is attached to the irregular surface of the coffin bone, and the outer presents a plaited or frilled surface. Between this inner and outer membrane, a layer of elastic material is interposed,, which, like most other structures of the foot, answers a two- fold purpose. It furnishes a nidus or bed for the safe repose of the vessels and nerves that ramify upon the laminae, and particularly those which are engaged in the work of secreting, the horny laminae. The frilled or laminated arrangement affords abundance of space for these vessels and nerves as they 44 proceed to the various points of contact and union with the horny laminae, and will yet admit of a certain amount of separ- ation of the outer from the inner portion of the membrane, allowing certain movements of the foot to be effected without any undue strain of the filamentous and vascular connections of the laminae. This elastic material' I shall have frequent occasion to allude to again as the interperiosteal tissue, or pad. RELATIVE WEIGHTS SUSTAINED BY FORE AND HIND LIMBS. In further elucidation of the functions of the laminae, quoting Spooner : " Let us consider the vast weight supported by each leg, and the manner in which it is distributed. The weight of a moderate sized horse is about twelve hundred weight ; this, when the animal is standing is supported by the fore and hind legs in the proportion of two-thirds by the former and one- third by the latter. When the horse is in motion, say trotting, this weight is supported alternately by one hind, and one fore leg, so that each fore leg supports two-thirds of the animal's gravity ; to this we must add the weight of the rider, and the increased burden occasioned by the momentum of the horse's action. We shall, therefore, be within bounds when we say that each fore leg alternately bears a weight equal to the ani- mal's entire gravity, all which is borne by the small pastern bone, and is thus distributed to the parts below. A moderate portion is first communicated to the elastic cushion, from whence it is impressed on the lateral and inferior cartilages and posterior part of the frog. The remainder, being the principal portion, is transferred to the navicular and coffin- bones, the former of which, by the interposition of the flexor tendon, bears partly on the frog and partly on the sole ; and the latter by the intervention of the laminae, distributes its weight to the wall throughout its whole circumference, and a very slight portion of it is borne by the sole, which may or may not bear upon the ground. Thus at the same moment 45 these various actions go on in the foot. The coffin bone de- scends lower into the hoof, the laminae, by their elastic connec- tions, permitting it ; the sensible sole is compressed, and perhaps the horny laminae opposite the coffin bone slightly descends. Well, the horny sole and the anterior part of the frog opposite the navicular bone descend and expand the quarters parallel to them, whilst at the same time, the elastic or sensible frog, being compressed, is forced down upon the horny frog, and contri- butes to the expansion of the heels ; but if the horny frog meets the ground, the cushion, being pressed upon both above and be- low, enlarges laterally, and expands the upper part of the foot and lateral cartilages." This quotation is introduced for the purpose of showing the loose views entertained by one of the most influential authori- ties upon the " Foot of the Horse," regarding the most impor- tant function possibly pertaining to that organ, namely, the sus- taining or supporting ordination of the sole. He says the sole "may or may not" have a bearing upon the ground. I affirm that it must have a bearing either upon the ground or its equiv- alent, the shoe, in order to exercise and maintain its functions in a state of efficiency. FACILIS DECENSUS AVERNUS. Descent of the horny sole being regarded as a function, this error renders the acquisition of erroneous views necessary to support it, an easy matter; just as a recognition of its falsity, and the necessity of a supporting function to the sole will have an important influence in producing correct views of other func- tions. It does not, however, always do this, as I shall show by an illustrious example, namely, Professor Gamgee, senior, who, though strenuously advocating a sustaining function to the sole, denies the contractility and expansibility of the foot func- tionally or otherwise ! Per contra, Mr. Spooner recognizes this latter function, but is loose-jointed upon the sustaining func- tions of the sole. How passing strange, that men of such mark, and of such "large discourse" upon that ever-fertile topic, the 46 foot of the horse, should differ so diametrically upon matters that appear to be of the most simple and demonstrable char- acter, as I think will be seen when we discuss the other functions of the foot. THE SENSITIVE SOLE. Besides the laminal tissues, the periosteum of the coffin bone furnishes a double membrane from its plantar surface to fulfill similar functions for the horny and sensitive soles. Here, also, proceeding from within outwards, we have the basal membrane adherent to the bone, and a secreting membrane sending its papillae into the internal surface of the horny sole, besides a layer of elastic interperiosteal tissue coming between the two layers of membrane last described — that is to say, it furnishes a bed whereon the nerves, blood-vessels, and absorbents may repose with safety, and yet suffer the necessary elongation and shortening incidental to the movements of the foot without injury ; and, being of the elastic variety of fibrous tissues, forms the appropriate elastic medium, when its functions are unim- peded, by which the natural springing and rebounding func- tions claimed for the plantar cushion, for such it is, are effected. AN ERRONEOUS CONCEPTION EXPOSED. If the above description of the sensitive sole be correct, as I deem it demonstrable that it is, by actual experiment, then the common notion that the horny sole should be cut until it springs or yields under the pressure of the thumb must be founded upon an erroneous conception of the function of the sole, no matter by whomsoever the doctrine may be taught, since this practice neutralizes, to the extent to which it may be followed, the action of the really elastic tissue within the foot, and calls upon tissues that are not elastic to fulfill functions for which they were neither designed nor adapted ; and, more- over, endangers the vascular and filamentous connections of the sensitive and the horny laminae, as well as those of the sensitive and the horny sole, by causing a greater tension upon those connections than they are able, or were intended to bear. m MR. FLEMING, RISE AND EXPLAIN. THE "SOLAR ZONE." There is a white line that marks the line of junction of the sole and wall. It is undoubtedly the cementing medium of the two portions of the hoof. In some prior observations on the lami- nae made by Mr. Fleming, it will be remembered that he stated that the " microscope, physiology, and pathological experience abundantly testify that the horny leaves are not formed at all by the sensitive ones, and that the coronary ligament secreted he entire wall." How, then, does it happen that the source of this " softer and more elastic white zone " is ascribed to "the secreting villi of the lower end of the sensitive laminae? " If the sensitive laminae have secreting functions at one part, why not at another ? And if not, why not ? If they have not, what need is there of any vascular attachment between the two de- scriptions of laminae, when a merely mechanical one would do as well ? If a portion of the horny wall is not secreted from its sensitive counterpart, perhaps the horny sole and frog are not secreted by their sensitive counterparts; for the inference in one case is just as reasonable as in all three ; and if they are not, from whence are they derived ? Presuming upon the pos- sibility that Mr. Fleming may alight, in the course of his pro- miscuous reading, upon these questions, I shall be expecting an answer to them in some future edition of his work on " Prac- tical Horse-Shoeing " or in some other way. THE SENSITIVE FROG. This structure presents a double membranous arrangement, similar in this respect to the secreting organs of the sole and wall. Extensions of a dense white fibrous membrane, almost, if not quite, identical with the periosteal tissues before described, completely invest this substance. Its secreting papillae pene- trate the horny frog, just as those of the sensitive sole are im- bedded into the pores of the corneous sole ; but they are said 48 to be of a finer and more delicate structure than those of the sensitive sole. They also take the same oblique direction downwards and forwards as those of the sensitive sole. View- ing the internal aspect of the hoof, a long, deep, triangular fissure will be seen, with a small eminence springing from its medial line, near the basal end of the triangle. In and over this fissure, and adjacent thereto, the sensitive frog reposes. This sensitive frog may also be regarded as an interperiosteal pad or cushion, only, compared to the others, it is of greatly magnified dimensions. It fills up the whole of the posterior space of the foot not occupied by other substantial tissues. This, the principal spring-cushion of the foot, as to size, is com- posed of two kinds of ligamentous tissue — the white fibrous and the yellow elastic. The mass of the frog-cushion is com- posed of the same material as constitutes the sub-cutaneous tissues, usually designated connective or areolar tissues. To- wards the posterior portion of the foot these tissues are trans- formed into a vast fibro-cartilaginous cushion, otherwise known as the sensitive frog. Its eminently elastic properties are due to its yellow elastic constituent, which predominates most in the upper portion of the pad that lies in close contiguity to the perforans tendon and the inferior portion of the coronal bone. CHARACTERISTIC STRUCTURE OF THE FROG. Another remarkable feature of the constitution of the frog- cushion, which only the microscope could reveal, is the manner in which these fibrous materials of the sensitive frog are dis- posed. There is no apparent order in their disposition, but they are interwoven with each other in every conceivable direc- tion, thus forming a dense areolated mass of tissue. These areolae are exceedingly minute, and it is within these that the yellow elastic fibres called " nuclear " are discovered to exist. It is this variety of fibre that gives elastic properties to an oth- erwise inelastic substance. The chief characteristic, therefore, of the frog-cushion is firmness, combined with lightness and elasticity, it being endowed with the latter property in every conceivable direction. 49 STRUCTURE INDICATES FUNCTION. These minute particulars as to the structure of the frog- cushion — and they could have been made more minute still — I deem of importance, as they point unmistakably to its func- tions. " Men do not gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles ; " but they sometimes commit the equally egregious blunder of attributing functions to organs and textures which are altogether foreign to their destined purposes, through im- perfect acquaintance with their intimate composition and organ- ization. These considerations, together with the desire I en- tertain that the sub-structure of my theory and practice in regard to diseases of the feet shall be laid sufficiently broad and deep in the facts of anatomy and physiology must'be my apol- ogy, if any were needed, for dwelling so long upon th£ compo- sition and organization of tissues. FUNCTIONS OF THE FROG. The highly important functions of the frog have yet to be considered. The horny frog is evidently designed to receive pressure externally, as without this there would be no basis afforded for the resilient movements of the internal spring- cushion — that is to say, the sensitive frog. The most familiar illustration of this view is the following: Take the spring- cushion of a carriage, or the spring-mattress of a bed. It will be seen that the spiral spring is fastened by one end to a solid base or frame-work. The full action of the spring is thus ob- tained ; but if the solid base is removed, and a yielding base substituted, the action of the spring is neutralized in proportion to the yielding character of the base ; in other words, much of its resilient action is lost, and the body, sitting or recumbent upon either, would sink to a lower level and find less springi- ness on the seat or the bed. IMPORTANCE OF A HEALTHY FROG. Thus, the sensitive frog is the spring-cushion, and the horny frog its base of action, when these tissues and functions are un- interfered with. 50 The horny frog interposes a firm resisting medium between the sensitive frog and the ground. The sensitive frog com- presses more readily under the double effect of superior and inferior pressure. It thus lets the weight of the animal down easy upon the other portions of the foot, and the instant the weight is removed in the lifting movement, regains its original dimensions. It is to this expansive or rebounding movement that I attribute the regular, light, easy, corky, springing move- ments in action that is peculiar to the horse. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM OF LATERAL MOVEMENTS. The sensitive frog and the fissure in which it reposes are also evidently constructed so as to admit of some degree of lateral movement. The peculiar construction, too, of the sensitive frog adapts it, I think, to receive or to resist pressure in every direction, its areolae admitting of the maximum amount of rapid condensation with the minimum of the lateral increase of bulk. SUMMARY OF VIEWS. Summarizing the foregoing views — the superimposed weight of the animal superiorly, the solid bases afforded by the horny frog inferiorly, the quarters of the horny wall laterally — these are the solid resistants that call the compressive and the expan- sive forces of the frog-cushion into play. More elasticity than that which is inherent in these resisting structures, or any in- terference with the due fulfillment of the functions of any one or more of them, such as contracted quarters and a diseased horny frog, would injure the structure and suspend the func- tions of the primary organ of resiliency, the sensitive frogf and proportionately will be the impairment of the leg or knee action of the animal subject to such an abnormal condition of things. The question of the Expansibility of the Foot is too important to be dismissed with a cursory allusion. It will arise for con- sideration in due course, and will then receive the attention it merits. TENDONS AND TENDINOUS TEXTURES. Several varieties of these textures are to be found entering into that complex organism, the foot of the horse. i. The tendons directly connecting the bones with the muscles that act upon them. 2. The tendinous expansions that envelope joints. 3. The tendinous structures that connect bones that are in close apposition to each other in joint formations. 4. The external lateral ligaments of joints. 5. The stellate ligaments of the navicular bone. GENERAL CHARACTER OF TENDINOUS TEXTURES. All the above structures have the same general composition, differing only in the arrangeme?it of their fibres. The dense, tough, white, tendinous expansions that embrace the joints, and the inelastic silvery ligaments and tendons that form ex- tensions of muscles, are alike of the white fibrous variety of tissues, and are composed of white filaments, similar in every respect to the fibrous areolar tissues. They only differ in the arrangement of their fibres. They are all, however, arranged in a parallel manner, and, being inelastic, give a firm union to those structures with which they are continuous at their ends. Yet, though they are described as inelastic, they are not abso- lutely so, as is shown by the fact that a small number of yellow elastic fibres is interspersed among the bundles of white fibres. This undoubtedly imparts some security against the chances of 52 a rupture, by admitting of a slight degree of elongation under extremely trying circumstances. Histologists give the name of ' nuclear' to these yellow elastic fibres. The tendons and faschiae, or tendinous bands, are bundles of filaments of white fibres. The aponeurotic expansions are also filamentous bun- dles of the same material, strips of which interlace each other, and a quantity of reticular connective tissue giving them a bond of union. It is the toughness and inextensibility of white fibrous tissue that render it so serviceable in attaching muscle to bone, and in connecting bones where they articulate with each other. This tissue is but slightly vascular, and contains fewer blood-vessels in the adult than in the young animal. AN IMPORTANT ANATOMICAL FACT. It is not unimportant to remember that in certain exigencies the division of tendons, faschise, and ligaments is unattended with pain, so that these structures are devoid of sensibility. There is no tissue more easily reproduced ; and the only con- « dition for effectual reunion is, that the divided ends be brought as close together as possible, in order to prevent any increase in the length of the bond of union. Perfect rest of parts is the best means to insure the healing of a cut or torn ligament or tendon. No other means can be adopted to increase the strength of the white fibrous tissue. This is mentioned, be- cause veterinary surgeons still resort to blistering and firing, in the belief that they insure animals from not lacerating liga- ments or tendons a second time. THE FLEXOR TENDONS OF THE FOOT. The most important tendons of the foot are those which have their insertion in the coffin or pedal bone ; the tendon of the Flexor Pedis Perforans, and that of the Extensor Pedis, and that which is inserted into the coronal bone, the tendon of the Flexor Pedis Perforatus. The latter and the former will be alluded to, for the sake of brevity, as the Flexors, and the other as the Extensor. If we take the Extensor SurTraginis into account, 53 we shall then have two Flexors and two Extensors. The largest I and most powerful of these tendons is that of the Perforans muscle ; the next, that of the perforatus. The two last main- tain a very intimate companionship from their origin to their insertion. They are the two largest of the fore limb. The late Professor Dick's favorite theory concerning the navicular dis- ease was, that "injury to this tendon in the synovial capsule of the navicular joint was most generally the primary and proxi- mate cause." The perforans tendon passes under the navicu- lar bone, and is inserted into the posterior pit of the pedal bone. The navicular bone affords a fulcrum, by which means the flexion of the foot is accomplished more easily than could be done without any such fulcrum. REMARKABLE MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS. The merely mechanical arrangement governing the action of the flexor tendons or sinews is of a very remarkable character ; but I do not propose to enter into its consideration beyond its immediate influence upon the motions of the foot. Both of these tendons have the same origin, and, though their connec- tion from their origin to their insertion is so intimate, they pre- serve their individuality throughout their whole course to the foot. Both of them have their accessories above and below the the knee. The perforans is aided by the Ulnaris Accessorius and the Radialis Accessorius above the knee, and a tendon called the tendo-subcarpal below the knee. The perforatus de- rives assistance from a ligament above the knee, called the Superior Suspensory. At the back of the knee the perforans clasps the perforatus in such a manner as to form a sheath, through which the latter may glide ; and at the back of the fet- lock joint the latter performs a similar office for the former. Reaching the coronal bone, the perforatus divides itself into two points of insertion, one going to the inner and the other to the outer posterior edge of that bone. The perforans here be- comes flat and thin, and adapts itself in width to the length of the navicular bone, against which it presents a hard gliding 54 surface. Its rounded terminal insertion measures about four inches, and it spreads out somewhat like a fan, and finds an attachment to the roughened inferior semicircular border of the coffin bone. Such are some of the more salient features of these important tendons, a consideration of which, in all its bearings, would form a subject of considerable interest and prolonged study. THREE-FOLD FUNCTIONS OF THE FLEXORS. Their united function is obviously of a three-fold character. They lift and flex the foot in upward action. In the downward motion their great strength is utilized to diminish the force of the descending weight of the animal, with the acquired mo- mentum in addition, which must be very considerably increased during rapid action. The perforatus and perforans are liable to sprains, to laceration, to rupture, to ulceration, and the latter to adhesion to the navicular bone. THE EXTENSOR TENDONS OF THE FOOT. The extensor tendons are very light and slender in compari- son with the flexors. They blend intimately with the faschiae that enwraps the upper and lower pastern joints. The thickest portion of the extensor pedis is inserted into the coronal em- inence of the os pedis. The less thick portion is interwoven with the faschise that finds an attachment along the entire superior margin of that bone. The combined general function of the extensors is the extension of the foot and leg. LOW INSTEP A FREQUENT SOURCE OF LAMENESS. A by no means unfrequent source of lameness I have ob- served to be, pressure upon this tendon, arising from a low instep, which I have found to disappear after lowering and shortening the toe, or raising the heels, or both, as circum- stances may render necessary. It comes from lowering the heels unduly, or from allowing the shoes to remain on the feet too long, the toe thereby becoming elevated from inor- 55 dinate growth. Injuries to these tendons are less frequent than to the flexors, A very disastrous lesion of the tendon of the .extensor pedis is one upon the part just where it is inserted into the coffin bone, from a severe tread or calk. It is more serious here than a similar injury elsewhere, for the reason, I presume, that the principal point of connection is either weak- ened, or entirely severed in a case of a severe character. ACCESSORIES OF THE EXTENSORS. The Extensors are not without their adjuncts or accessories. The Extensor Suffraginis is assisted by the Ligamentum Ex- tensorium that springs from the outer part of the capsular ligament of the knee, and the outer metacarpal bone, taking a winding course downwards and forwards towards the fetlock, where it blends with its principal. The Extensor Pedis has a much more complex accessory to aid it, withal, a very important one to understand the arrangement of. It has its superior attachment to the head of the large metacarpal bone on its posterior aspecti, mmediately below its articulating border. It lies between the small metacarpals in close apposition to the large metacarpal, and for two-thirds the length of that bone it is a very powerful undivided ligament. At the commence- ment of the lower third it divides into two parts, each part attaching itself, one to the inner, and the other to the outer Sesamoid bone. They traverse these bones and leave them somewhat diminished in calibre, and each winds itself around the pastern obliquely to the front where it blends with the extensor pedis. The undivided portion of this curious liga- ment is said to contain elastic fibres, which therefore would render it extensible in a slight degree when its strength would be severely taxed. It will be seen that the accessories of the flexors act in a direct line with their principals ; while that of the extensor suffraginis proceeds from the side obliquely to the front ; and that of the extensor pedis proceeds from behind and winds around to the front to render their assistance. 56 THE TRUE SUSPENSION OF THE LEG. The ligament last described was within the last decade very generally regarded as the principal suspensory ligament of the leg. It is not so regarded now at head quarters or by those who know that a division of this ligament does not result in letting doivn the limb, while a division of the tendon of the perforans does. The latter, therefore, must be regarded as the true suspensory, and the former has changed its name from suspensory to superior sesamoideal ligament, being named rela- tively to its connections rather than to its supposed functions. I believe, however, that it has a double function, that besides the inferior suspensory power it possesses when the foot is on the ground, that it operates against an undue extension of the limb, especially in rapid action, and that it is admirably adapted for this purpose by its great strength and slightly yielding properties. ANTAGONIZING FORCES. It seems to me that were there not some antagonizing or controlling force of this kind, in rapid action, the legs would get too much extended, and the body get down too low for the animal to exert his powers to the best advantage. By none of the "locomotive physiologists" have I found this function referred to in the production and contrast of knee action. If this view be correct, this ligament assists the flexors as well as the extensors, by receiving a share of the descending weight during action. Its attachments and properties are eminently adapted for this purpose. I believe, moreover, it is the first to act in the lifting and flexing movement of the leg, and the first to act in limiting or checking the movement of extension and confining that extension within the limits of safety. This question, however, belongs to the region of " loco- motive physiology," which I am content to leave to the great mollahs of the veterinary profession and their curious disser- tations upon the production of knee action. 57 THE SECRET OF KNEE ACTION. Transcending all other influences upon the action of the knee is that of a sound and healthy foot. This is the great 'producer and modifier of knee action. Ask the owners and trainers of "Dexter," "Goldsmith Maid," and "American Girl," the secret of their wonderful performances, and if they tell you truly, they will point to a piece of simple mechanism called a foot-dilator, and tell you the whole secret is in the judi- cious use of that instrument. " A word to the wise is sufficient/' THE TENDINOUS EXPANSIONS Are all of the white-fibrous variety of tissues, are very tough and inextensible, and constitute those powerful investing mem- branes of joints that enclose the articulation as within a cap- sule, hence the name they commonly receive of capsular liga- ments of the large and small pastern and the coffin-joints, the latter being so close to each other are continuous, and power- fully contributes towards the immunity these joints usually en- joy from dislocations, as luxations of these joints- are very rare compared to those of other joints. THE LESSER LIGAMENTS OF THE ARTICULATIONS Pertaining to the lower pastern and coffin-joints are all of the same dense tough character as the last described. One class unites the ends of bones where they articulate with each other; and another may be said to brace or tie the joint upon its lateral aspects, so as not to interfere with the hinge-like motion of the joint. The former are therefore called interosseous, and the latter, lateral ligaments. The small pastern has one interosseus, and two long and two short lateral ligaments. The coffin-joint has two interosseous, two antero-lateral, and two postero-lateral ligaments. The antero-lateral are continuous with the lateral cartilages. The stellate ligaments of the navicular bone are of this class. Their functions have been already referred to. E 58 a SYNOVIAL MEMBRANES. A COMMON ERROR CORRECTED. Of three kinds of synovial membranes that exist, the articu- lator)', the vagina/ and the vesicular; the two former are found, one in the foot and the other in very close proximity to it. The articulatory lie in loose folds around the articulatory surfaces, and do not as is generally supposed cover the articulati?ig surfaces. They form circumscribed sacs it is true. Their edges are inserted along the margin of the articulating surfaces, and their office is to secrete the synovial fluid which insinuates itself between the bearing surfaces of the joint. In the coffin- joint one of these membranes encloses the articulating surfaces of three bones, those of the pedal and coronal bones; and the upper and anterior surfaces of the navicular bone; while the inferior surface of the latter bone forms a distinct articulation with the portion of the perforans that glides upon or against it. This latter articulation has a synovial membrane independently of the one above it, and is the one nearest to the internal apex of the frog, which I have strong reasons for thinking presses upward but too frequently, and aggravates the contracted condition of the foot. The example of a vaginal mem- brane found near the foot, is that which lines the enclosed sac or sheath which is formed by the perforatus for the passage of the perforans, just before it reaches the navicular bone. DISEASES OF SYNOVIAL MEMBRANES AND THEIR SEQUELM. Synovial membranes are said to be non-vascular and insen- sitive, except when diseased, when they become the seat of intense pain. They are liable to acute and chronic inflamma- tion, from concussion, blows, and strains, and mechanical inju- ries, such as the puncture of a nail, broken glass, etc. They may also be affected by rheumatism. Inflammatory adhesions of their surfaces are found in the advanced stages of navicular 59 disease, and of conversion of the membrane into cartilage. The lack of a due secretion of synovia leads to consequences of a most serious nature to joints. Abrasion and absorption of the articular cartilages is the first result, leading in many cases to a species of dry-rot in the bones. A deep furrow may be plowed into the articular cartilage, as is often met with in the astragalo-tibial articulation of the hock-joint, where there is lameness without any palpable or ocular evidence of spavin, incipient, or otherwise. The phrase occult spavin is often made to do duty for occult lameness, arising from the cause alluded to. This lesion will receive fuller consideration under the head of Springhalt. THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM OF THE FEET. 1. The Plantar Arteries. 2. The Plantar Capillaries. 3. The Plantar Veins. THE PLANTAR ARTERIES. GENERAL REMARKS UPON ARTERIES. Before describing the course of the arteries of the foot, it may possibly be not altogether uninstructive to non-professional readers to learn something of the nature of that wonderful system forming a part of the general animal economy, through the agency of which every change in the tissues are effected, either for good or ill. By means of the circulatory system, the waste materials, the worn-out particles of matter are conveyed to their appropriate organs of elimination from the system ; and the new, vitalized, and vitalizing, molecules of matter deposited in their place. The value of an adequate appreciation of the facts of physi- ology having especial relation to the foot and the circulating system, is but little suspected. Believing this, I deem some few facts of this nature of sufficient importance to justify the introduction of the following brief notes upon the nature of the arteries as well as of the capillaries and veins which will follow, albeit they may be deemed somewhat advanced for many of my readers. 61 CHARACTERISTICS OF ARTERIES. Branches of arteries leave the main trunk, at obtuse, acute, and right angles. The united capacity of all the small branches is much greater than the parent trunk. Arteries do not taper, but diminish in size, by giving off other trunks and branches. The blood in arteries goes slower the further it is from the heart. Arteries are placed in the aspect of flexion in limbs, rather than of extension. As compared with veins, they are deep-seated on the inner surface of the feet and legs. The coats of the arteries are thick, except in the brain, spi- nal cord, and the interior of bones. They are enclosed in a loose cellular sheath to allow of ver- micular motion and dilatation. They terminate in capillaries. THE MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF AN ARTERY Reveals the existence of three coats. i. An external coat made up of areolar tissue, and yellow- elastic fibres; the fibres being disposed longitudinally. 2. A middle coat, consisting of muscular and elastic fibres, both arranged in a circular form, so as to form a tube. 3. An internal coat composed of a basement membrane of elastic material, and an epithelial membrane lining the base- ment membrane. The coats are all united together by areolar tissue. Arteries have no valves, excepting one at the entrance to the aorta and pulmonary artery. An artery is distinguished by its cylindrical form ; and bleed- ing from an artery is known by its pulsatory character. An artery may be recognized by its dirty yellowish-white color. 62 An artery retains its circular form when empty, while a vein collapses. Arteries frequently anastomose with each other to form com- plete circles, especially in the brain and feet. A ligature tied round an artery, divides the middle muscular coat first on account of the circular arrangement of its fibres. The muscular portion of the middle coat is of the involun- tary class of muscles, and acts by means of nervous force, or stimulus, or by electricity. The internal serous coat is very brittle. It possesses neither blood-vessels nor nerves. Arteries are very extensile, that is, they are susceptible of yielding and elongation, and of returning to their original dimensions. THE PLANTAR ARTERIES. The following account of the Plantar Arteries is derived from Spooner, on "The Foot of the Horse." " The Plantar Arteries at their origin above the fetlock form an acute angle from the apex of which gradually receding, they pass over the joint by the side of the sesamoid bones, and somewhat in advance of the tendons, conforming in their pro- gress to the prominence of the fetlock and the depressions of the pasterns. Below the joint, the artery, still pursuing a straight course, is, from the smaller circumference of the pas- terns, compared with the fetlock, again brought very near, and somewhat in advance of the perforatus tendon, and so con- tinues till the termination of the tendon, when the artery itself is hidden from view by the lateral cartilage. It here inclines somewhat forwards, being surrounded by the substance of the cushion, and just within the upper part of the wings of the coffin-bone it enters a groove which conveys it downwards and forwards to the foramen on the posterior concavity of the bone, just under the coffin joint. The artery within the substance of the bone takes a circular direction, and joins its fellow on the other side, from which circumstance it is designated by Pro- fessor Coleman the circulus arteriosus. In the course we have 63 described, being common to both, the plantar arteries send out many branches to the neighboring parts. " The first of importance after a few small vessels about the fetlock is called by Mr. Percival, the perpendicular artery, and rises about half way down the os suffraginis, and takes its course forwards and downwards to the coronary substance where it anastomoses with its fellow and forms an arch called the superficial coronary from whence proceed about eighteen small descending arteries whose office it is to secrete the crust. " The second branch of importance is the transverse artery, which crosses over to the front of the os coronae, underneath the extensor tendon, and joins the corresponding branch from the other side, forming the Superior Coronory circle, which gives off numerous small vessels, some of which, passing down- wards communicate with the inferior coronary artery before described. " Thirdly, the plantar arteries, having given off these vessels anteriorly distribute others posteriorly, the first of which is the artery of the frog, which rises opposite the pastern joint, and enters obliquely the substance of the sensitive frog, where it divides into two branches, one going to the toe, and the other to the heels of the frog, the latter of which sends branches to the cartilages. " Fourthly, just as the main trunk reaches the coffin-bone, a Targe branch, the lateral laminal, is given off, which enters the foramen in the wings of the bone, and then winds around it in a groove to the front of the foot sending branches in every direction to the sensible laminae, and then enters by a smaller foramen in the antero-lateral part of the bone and joins the circulus arteriosus within it. From this artery a branch is given off which joins the circumflex. "The Circulus Arteriosus presents a corresponding course within the bone, to that described by its external border, and gives rise to two sets of vessels : " First. — The Anterior Laminal Arteries, very small and numerous branches which proceed through the foramina of the coffin-bone and are distributed on the laminae. 64 "Secondly. — The Inferior Communicating Arteries, thirteen or fourteen in number, proceed through the foramina in front of the coffin-bone and supply the Circumflex Artery which en- circles the toe of the os pedis and from which blood is usually abstracted when a horse is bled in the foot. " From the Circumflex, proceed the Solar Arteries, thirteen or fourteen in number, which, taking a radiated course towards the centre of the foot, furnish the sensible sole with its requi- site nourishment, and form the net-work of vessels from which the horny sole is secreted." THE PLANTAR CAPILLARIES. An extremeiy interesting study is the capillary system, or cir- culation. It is important to be acquainted with some of its salient features ; as much so, indeed, as with the arterial and venous systems of circulation. The great object of the capil- lary circulation is to minister to the functions of secretion and nutrition, as these operations can only be carried on while the blood is in circulation. The term capillary is used to denote all the minute vessels which pass between and connect the arter- ies and veins. It has been estimated that the aggregate area of the cap- illaries is eight hundred times larger than that of the arteries which supply them. They are generally uniform in size, varying but a little in different places. They are smallest in the brain, the lungs and spinal cord, and largest in medullary matter, fat, etc. The smallest are about 3,500th and the largest about i(s00th of an inch in diameter. They have but one coat, which is of a homoge- neous character. They are nourished by imbibition. Their course is the same as the fibres of the tissues through which they ramify. •They commence in arteries and terminate in veins. They anastomose very frequently with each other, and form a net- work of wonderful minuteness. 65 The function of the capillaries is to distribute the nutritive elements to the most minute portions of the tissues. The arteries themselves are not supplied with nutriment from the biood that passes through them, but by vessels from the col- lateral branches termed the vasa vasorum. These minute sys- tems within systems remind one of the Hudibrastic conceit : " Great fleas have little fleas Upon their backs, to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas ; And so, ad infinitum" A certain regulative or distributive power exists in the walls of the capillaries, on the tissues which they traverse. PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTS. Though the red cells of the blood pass through them, as a rule, in single file, sometimes the capillaries enlarge to admit several files to pass at once. The velocity of the current is liable to great and sudden variations from local influences, and when the action of the heart is enfeebled, stagnation some- times takes place, which is often overcome by the vigorous ac- tion of the heart. Impairment of the functions of the blood, by which it is not duly aerated, retards the flow of the blood through the capil- laries, the tissues being deprived of the proper amount of their appropriate stimulus. This has been verified by experiment in the lungs. The change in the condition of the blood in re- gard to the relative proportions of its oxygen and carbonic acid is the only one to which the pulmonary circulation is subservi- ent. Any circumstance which increases the functional energy of a part, or stimulates it to increased nutrition, will occasion an increase in the supply of blood, irrespective of any change in the heart's action. An undue acceleration of the local cir- culation constitutes the state known as active congestion, hy- peremia, or determination of blood. 66 When inflammation is produced, there is a stagnation of blood and a depression or change of its functions. When blood de- termines to the head from mental exertion, and the extremities become cold and livid, the circulation should be equalized by friction and exercise. In congestion of any organ there is deficient functional en- ergy and retarded circulation. This condition predisposes to inflammation. It is always relieved by promoting the action of the part affected. THE PLANTAR VEINS. GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE VEINS. Veins are superficial or deep-seated. Their inner coat is much more tough than the corresponding coat of arteries. Veins anastomose more frequently with each other than arteries. Veins accompany arteries in their course, the rule being that large arteries have one vein accompanying them, the middle- sized ones, two, and the smaller ones, seldom any. Like the arteries, the veins have three coats in their struc- tural formation : i. An external one — fibro-cellular, delicate and loose out- wardly, but having a firm attachment to the middle coat. 2. A middle one, a combination of circular muscular and of longitudinally elastic fibres, but of a much thinner sub- stance, possessing, however, less contractile force and greater strength than the corresponding coat of the arteries. 3. An internal serous membrane, consisting of a basement and an epithelial covering. Veins are more numerous than the arteries, and are more superficially placed. No veins have been found in the interior of bones. As a rule, veins have valves in their interior. Valves are rendered necessary by the propelling force of the arteries having be- come lost before the veins are reached. 67 When the blood passes from the capillaries into the veins, it runs very slowly, but increases in speed as it reaches the heart. The flow of blood in the veins is assisted by valves where it has to asscend against the force of gravity. The valves are numerous. They open toward the heart. They may be single, double, or treble, according to locality. There are some important exceptions to this rule. Besides other organs, the veins of the brain and the feet have no valves. They are numerous in the legs above, but there are none below the fetlocks. The passage of the blood through the veins is facilitated by muscular and other pressure and the aid of the valves, which are the most numerous, where they have the force of gravity to overcome ; and yet § THE VEINS OF THE FOOT HAVE NO VALVES. There must be an important reason for this exception. The following, perhaps, may be advanced as a possible explanation of this remarkable fact : In no other part of the system is there so much liability to disturbing influences upon the circu- latory apparatus as under the comparatively hard and unyield- ing horny encasement of the sensitive part of the foot we denom- inate the hoof. Excessive dryness or moisture will affect the foot injuriously, the necessary consequences of which would be an abnormal diminution or enlargement of the calibre of the circulatory vessels. The inference to be drawn from the fact of the veins of the foot having no valves has an important practical value. It is that under all ordinary circumstances the veins of the foot are sufficiently exposed to pressure by the movements of the animal to propel the blood through them; and that the valves so necessary and useful elsewhere in overcoming the force of gravity, would be so liable to get out of order in this organ that they would rather obstruct than facilitate the flow of blood through the veins. The vessels would then became congested; enlarge- ment would ensue, and this would create an internal pressure 68 in an outward direction upon the horny textures, similar to what they do when in a hypersemic condition merely from long standing in the stable or on board a ship. It should also be remembered that the horse was designed for fleetness — indeed, for almost constant action. All else being equal, this constant action would compensate for the omission of valves. WORK OR EXERCISE A NECESSITY TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY FOOT. From these considerations, it would appear necessary that the foot should be in frequent motion, in order to maintain through it a healthy circulation of the nutrient and vitalizing fluid — the blood. And, if these premises be correct, what can be more opposed to the well being of the horse, or be a more frequent predisposing cause of occult diseases of the feet and limbs of horses than tying them up in stalls and depriving them of that exercise which is essential to the maintenance of the healthy condition of the foot primarily ; and, secondarily, that of the entire animal system ? THE PLANTAR VEINS. ANATOMICAL ARRANGEMENT. " Having briefly described the arteries of the foot which pass in such a remarkable manner through the bone itself, protected from injury and secure from pressure, we must next describe the veins, which, by being less subject to injury, take their course outside the coffin-bone. The veins of the sole empty themselves chiefly into those of the laminae, which increasing in size toward the coronet, are collected together in branches, which take an upward course nrough the coronary substance, and form the superficial cor- onary veins. From them large branches proceed, which are joined by the deep coronary vein, which is usually double. These vessels when injected with wax present an immense net- work, spread over the lateral cartilages, and gradually dimin- 69 ishing in number, they at length unite in a single vein just opposite the pastern joint. The veins of the frog after ramifying over the body of the frog ascend on the inside of the cartilages into the substance of the heel. Diminishing in number, but increasing in size, they become a single vein, which, joining that from the laminae, together from the plantar vein, which, with the veins that form it, are alike on both sides of the foot. The vein takes its course upward by the anterior side of the plantar artery, but rather more superficially situated, and is joined by a vein called the perpendicular, and by some minor branches, and towards its termination by some larger ones from the fetlock joint." — Spooner. THE LYMPHATICS OF THE FOOT. The lymphatic vessels are said, by Percival, to be so minute as to bear no sort of comparison with the veins in point of magnitude. They are vastly more numerous and have much more fre- quent anastomsis than the veins. They are peculiarly tortuous in their course, and are every- where beset with valves. I have questioned in vain every authority I possess whether the lymphatics, like the veins of the foot, are not an exception to the rule as regards the exis- tence of valves in that organ ? Judging from analogy, I should deem it probable that they are. This however, for the present, must remain a moot question. Their natural divisions are into Superficial and Deep-seated. The superficial absorbents or lymphatics are distributed in great numbers immediately beneath the skin, and penetrate it at every point, which enables them to absorb moisture from external sources, and to convey it into the interior of the sys- tem. The deep-seated absorbents or lymphatics are found ramifying upon the interior tissues, in company with the veins. They are in direct communication with the superficial lymph- atics. Their office is to take up, and carry off, in a fluid con- 70 dition, the products of disintegration in all the tissues. Like the veins and arteries, they are exceedingly minute at their peripheral extremities, but gradually become less in number, and greater in size until they finally reach the receptaculum ehyti, the contents of which being conveyed into the veins, it passes through various depurating organs, by which the effete particles are cast out of the system, and the useful retained and utilized in the regeneration of the various tissues of which the body is built up. SCAVENGERS OR SANATORY AGENTS. The absorbents have been described as the scavengers of the animal system. When the scavengers of a large and crowded city, fail to perform their duties, and the highways and bye- ways become choked up with refuse matter from the houses, and the air loaded with putrescent effluvia, we know that the general health must suffer, and it may be that the conditions are present for the specific generation of the germs of a disease which may depopulate the city. It is equally certain that when the lymphatics are interfered with and they are hindered in the performance of their duties, by any cause whatever, whether it be mere mechanical obstruction, arising from pres- sure occasioned by an inelastic and unyielding condition of the horny structures ; or by the positive invasion of disease peculiar to its structures, the wojn-out particles of the system cannot be conveyed away, and they remain to impair and im- pede the nutritive materials and functions. Owing to the want of tonic force in the walls of the absorb- ents of the extremities, we get those accumulations -of fluids that cause the dropsical appearance so well known. There are other morbid conditions of the lymphatics, such as inflammation of these vessels, etc., which must be reserved for a fuller notice when the diseases having any immediate connec- tion with the foot are under consideration. 71 LYMPHATIC GLANDS. The absorbent or lymphatic glands are small globular bodies varying in size " from a pea to a walnut " that are found lying in the course of the absorbents. They are described as a " con- tortion of lymphatic vessels" connected together by cellular texture, having neither a oavity nor secreting duct. The vessel appears to enter a contorted mass of vessels, and then pass out again. These glands are linked together by absorbent tubes of intercommunication. The minutest of the absorbent vessels have but a single transparent membrane. As they require force, however, they acquire strength by the addition of another membrane, and finally the large trunks have three membranes. The lymphatic system is an exceedingly interesting and in- structive object of study. They have a more important con- nection with some diseases of the feet than is generally sup- posed. THE NERVES OF THE FOOT. GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. An eminent authority (Haycock) writes : " The nervous system is one that, if contemplated in all its numerous and im- portant relations, will be found to embrace the most compre- hensive inquiries which physiological science can open to the mind of man. " The horse, like all other highly-organized animals, is pos- sessed of a nervous system, the structure of which is highly complex, and the uses of which are two-fold : First, to place the animal itself in intimate relation with the external world; and, secondly, to place every member and every part of a mem- ber in intimate relation with every other member and part of a member. 72 " The nervous system may be divided, for the convenience of description into : i. The brain. 2. The spinal cord. 3. The cranial nerves. 4. The spinal nerves. 5. The sympathetic system. " It is by means of the brain and its nerves, the spinal cord and its nerves, and the sympathetic system, that the relations I have stated are maintained. "The sympathetic nervous system is distributed to the heart and to the blood-vessels throughout the body ; and also those various organs, the aggregate of which is called the ''organic sphere ' of the animal's body. " The brain and its nerves and the spinal cord and its nerves preside over the sensory and locomotive spheres of the animal, while, in addition the two systems exchange filaments with each other ; and thus the whole is balanced in every part in a man- ner which cannot fail to excite the wonder and admiration of every beholder." The importance of a due appreciation of normal and dis- eased conditions of the nerves in relation to the foot of the horse connot be overestimated. Causes apparently the most trivial, affecting the sensory nerves of the foot produce effects of the most destructive nature to the entire animal economy. DISTRIBUTIVE ARRANGEMENT OF THE NERVES OF THE FOOT.' Before I advert to some physiolgical and pathological facts, having immediate reference to the nerves of the feet, to which I have to call the attention of my readers generally, and to veterinary surgeons particularly, I will dispose of the merely distributive arrangement of the nerves of that organ. Quoting Spooner: "The nerves of the fore extremity are derived from the humeral plexus, which is formed by branches from the fifth, sixth and seventh cervical and first dorsal nerves.. 73 " Below the fetlock, these nerves, like the arteries, are termed the plantar, and they pursue a similar course, on either side, on the borders of the flexor tendons, and a little behind the arter- ies, and descending within the lateral cartilages, enter the fora- men in the cavity of the coffin bone, in company with the artery, and distribute their ramifications through the foramina of the bone to the sole. In this course the following branches are given off : " i. Just below the fetlock, an important branch, which runs obliquely forward to the lateral cartilages, where it is dispersed in the numerous ramifications, some of them external to the net work of veins, so that we can seldom bleed at this part without dividing a small nerve. " 2. A large branch is given off, just before the nerve reaches the lateral cartilage, which proceeding backwards, enters the substance of the frog. "3. Still lower down, a branch winds forward through the foramen in the wings of the cofin bone, and supplies the lam- inae. v' The nerves that supply the coronary ligament are derived from the external metacarpal nerve." IS THE EQUINE FOOT AN ORGAN OF SPECIAL SENSATION? There are some reasons, I think, for the belief that the foot of the horse is not only the subject of common sensation, but is also endowed with such an extremely delicate and special or- ganization as to entitle it to be considered as an organ of special as well as common sensation. The existence, however, of any special sense of this nature in the foot of the horse is one of inference rather than of positive demonstration ; but it is an inference, I think, that is justified by reason and analogy, and, perhaps, by experience. As to reason : That the foot should possess a special faculty of feeling, or sensation of touch upon its plantar surface, the part in contact with the ground when standing or during loco- motion, in order to harmonize its internal functions with its ex- F 74 ternal relations, by enabling it to receive and to convey impres- sions of comparative degrees of safety or danger to the brain of the system of which it forms a part, appears to me to be as neces- sary as the special organization of the ear, the eye, and the other organs of special sensation, designed for the fulfilment of certain functions also in connection with the external rela- tions of the animal. PRIMA FACIE REASONS. It appears to me that the impressions of safety or danger could not so well be conveyed to the brain through the agency of the eye alone as through the combined functions of the eye and the foot. Actual contact of the foot with the ground, I take to be a much safer criterion of safety or danger than a merely visual estimate of those circumstances. Both faculties are in perpetual exercise during locomotion ; that of sight to measure distances, so as to place the foot with accuracy, whilst that of touch receives the impressions of its good or bad qualities with reference to safety or danger. I think these may be regarded, at least, as prima facie reasons for the existence of a special endowment of sensibility in the foot of the "noble quadruped." ANALOGICAL ARGUMENT. • The evidence in favor of this view derivable from analogy I think, may fairly be adduced from the existence of this function in that organ which is the homologue in man of the foot of the horse — the organ of touch par excellance — the human hand. In this the microscope enables it to be demonstrated that, be- sides the sensation it possesses in common with the skin at all other points, it is endowed with a larger supply of sensitive nerve fibrillar at their extremities, where external objects are felt, than elsewhere. Just at the points of contact with ex- ternal objects sensibility is the most acute. 75 AN OBJECTION ANTICIPATED. Anticipating an objection that might be urged to this view of the case, I concede that the respective functions of the hand of man and the foot of the horse are only parallel to a certain extent ; that the former has endowments of sensibility denied to the latter, while the latter possesses powers and func- tions not enjoyed by the former ; yet different though they may be in some respects, I yet think there is one particular function they enjoy in common, differing possibly in degree, but not in kind, in which the analogy holds good, and that it may be said of the foot of the horse, as it is of the hand of man, that it is pre-eminently the organ of tactility or touch, and the prime medium of communication between the brain and solid objects of the external world. EXPERIENTIA DOCET. The evidence of experience which I shall adduce may not have much weight with those whose experience with horses in this respect has been limited to what many have been observed among horses whose feet are shod with iron, and traversing only the streets and roads in or near a city. Those who, like myself, have traveled in sparsely settled countries, as in the interior of Australia, where the foot of the horse is necessarily innocent of iron, and where horses are " shod according to nature," since nature does the shoeing her- self, and have spent a large portion of their time on horseback, may possibly be able to recall recollections of " hair-breadth escapes by flood and field," due in a great measure to the sa- gacity, the instinct or reason (I know not altogether which) of their equine companions, as I can. I confess that my life has been endangered more than once by my not heeding the warn- ing I received of treacherous ground by the animal's reluctance to move forward in a direct line, and by the folly of overcom- ing that reluctance by whip and spur. 76 RELATIVE SENSIBILITY OF THE EQUINE FOOT. For myself I am convinced that the foot of the unshod horse, whether wild or subjugated, and traversing the natural surface of the'earth, possesses endowments of special sensibility but lit- tle inferior, if any, to those of the palmar extremities of the ' lord of creation ' himself. The foot of the shod horse sub- ject to be " cribbed, cabined and confined " in his natural movements, treading only on artificially-formed surfaces, his whole nature but ill-understood by his custodians, and the prop- er management of his feet in his civilized condition compre- hended still less, I regard as vastly inferior in special sensibility to that of the horse which exists under more primitive con- ditions. CAUSES OF IMPAIRED ACTION. We will now allude to some of the pathological conditions, with which the nerves of the foot have an important and obvi- ous connection. I hold that but a slight degree of abnormal pressure upon the nerves of the foot, whether exerted from within or without, will produce some, it may be but a slight de- gree of pain, involving necessarily a corresponding degree, or amount, of impaired action in the limb of the foot affected, which must affect, more or less detrimentally the entire system. As is the amount of pressure, so will be the degree of pain, and the extent of lameness, whether it be slight or severe, in one foot or in more. It but too frequently happens that the pressure is so slight and so evenly experienced by the two fore feet, and the increase of pressure so gradual and insiduous, that its effects are not dis- cernable by those who are supposed to appreciate and to min- ister to all the animals physical necessities ; until he becomes ■ either an obvious cripple in both feet, or evinces a greater degree of lameness in one foot than the other. 77 THE FEVERED FOOT— SUB-ACUTE LAMINITIS. After a horse has been battering his feet, however sound 4hey may naturally be, with a thin and unsupported sole, the laminae suffering the highest degree of tension ; the heated organ, stimulated to its highest capacity for the propellance of blood through its millions of tubes, by active, it may be by- violent exercise, and is brought suddenly to a stand-still ; its rapid circulation is suddenly checked, under the unequal con- ditions of the blood-vessels within and without the horny tex- tures ; there being no valves in the veins of the foot ; and the latter being suddenly deprived of its natural stimulus of exer- cise ; congestion of these vessels ensues, which may be tempo- rary, being overcome by the vigorous action of the heart ; or it may be more or less permanent, and become the readily pre- disposing cause to founder whenever any extra demand is made upon the capacity or endurance of the pedal extremity. But congestion, or morbid fulness of the vessels implies pres- sure against the walls of the foot remotely. The nerves of the foot are necessarily involved in this pressure, and hence we have the sub-acute inflammatory condition denominated ''''fever in the foot," which of course may be more or less severe accord- ing to circumstances. ACUTE LAMINITIS— FOUNDER. All these conditions of the sub-acute variety may become chronic or remittent in their character, and the foot in some cases become adapted to abnormal conditions, and the pecu- liar temperament of the animal under the influence of general nervous excitement, and the stimulus of action, may cause him to forget all about his " poor feet" But when to the above we have a superadded cause in the mor- bidly contracting or contracted condition of the quarters, it can readily be perceived how a slight internal pressure and its con- sequences would be intensified, under any undue exercise of the functions of the foot, and how the nervous irritation may become so great as to affect the general nervous system, and that morbid condition we call founder, be induced. 78 GENERAL CAUSES— DIVERSE EFFECTS. Between the extremes of simple fever, and founder, various structural changes and pathological conditions may be found in the feet of all varieties of breed, and all kinds of feet, whether they be flat, blocky, or of any intermediate form. In whatever feet the general causes I have glanced at are in operation, however slowly and insiduously, it only depends upon the element of time and the concurrence of certain con- ditions which may happen at any time unforseen, what the result is going to be ; what particular portion of the foot, and in what manner, and to what extent it shall be affected. In one case we may have simple contraction and atrophy or wasting of the internal structures as the ultimate result. Corns and Cracks may be manifested in other cases. In some cases they culminate in acute or sub-acute navicular disease or founder. Thus, it will be clear that the same general causes may produce the whole of these various specific morbid conditions, and the several links in the chain of direct causation be justly adduced, namely : contraction, nerve-pressure, and diminished or vitiated secretions, of the various structures composing the foot, whether they be the hard external, or soft internal, parts, all having to depend entirely upon nerve-stimulus for healthy action. INJURIES FROM NAILING ON THE SHOE. The process of nailing on the shoe is by no means an unfre- quent source of irritation to the nerves of the foot, which occasionaly eventuates in canker and lock-jaw. Every one of the errors of carelessness or of positive want of skill, in nailing on the shoe, such as driving the nails too near the sensitive tissues, without actually piercing them ; absolute piercing of the tissues ; driving the nails too high, or too close together; using nails too strong or too weak in the shank ; the too frequent insertion and withdrawal of the nail ; and though last not least, injudiciously tight 'closing' or 'drawing up; the nails on a weak or tender foot, no one knows better than shoeing-smiths 79 themselves are occasionally productive of the most serious con- sequences. « The most apparently trivial cause may lead only to temporary lameness, or may be followed by the most destructive onslaughts of canker or of lock-jaw. These diseases will receive a careful and extended consideration under their respective captions in the section upon Diseases of the Feet. SOURCE OF PAIN IN THE FOOT. There are some morbid conditions that cannot be classed among the specific diseases of the equine foot which may be as well referred to here, perhaps, as elsewhere. I allude to pain in the nerves of the various tissues that enter into the composition of the foot. According to " Druitt," " The bones like other parts are subject to that severe and continuous pain which is known by the name of neuralgia." That the pedal bone and its investing membrane is the frequent seat of neural- gic pain, exposed as it is to so many injurious influences, both local and constitutional, I cannot entertain the shadow of a doubt. The same may also be predicated of the synovial and other membranous structures, which are susceptible to acute and sub-acute inflammation from local causes, such as external pressure, concussions, strains, mechanical injuries, and espe- cially penetrating wounds and from constitutional causes, as exposure to cold ; contact with the excreta of the stable ; breathing a vitiated atmosphere ; rheumatic and other blood poisons both inherited and acquired ; and perhaps more than all, the powerful sympathy that exists between the feet, the mucous membranes of the lungs, stomach, and intestines, as well as the skin, and the brain. The foot of the horse is more exposed to all these external and internal influences than the foot of any other animal by reason of its peculiar organization by which the circulation can be so readily impeded, healthy assimilation prevented, the secre- tory processes perverted, the nerve and other structures atro- phied, the nerve-force weakened, and the various kinds and degrees of nervous sensibility augmented or paralyzed. 80 EXTERNAL SOURCES OF PAIN IN THE FOOT. Another seat or source of pain and lameness may be located in tissues, which, though not found in the foot, are yet the source of every movement of that organ. Therefore, whatever impairs the efficiency of the former, must necessarily exert a prejudicial effect upon the latter, just as any painful affection of the feet must have a paralyzing influence upon the muscular organs that control them. MUSCULAR SPASMS, OR CRAMP. Druitt thus writes of these diseased conditions : " Pain may arise from muscular spasms, or cramp, or from diseased condi- tion of the nerves, or of the nerve-centres, without the existence of the least inflammation. Such pain may often be known by its coming and going, without apparent cause. It is often in- tense in proportion to the debilitated condition of the patient. It may last for months without being followed by any of the changes of structure which are commonly called inflammatory." I believe this is equally true of the equine, as the human patient, and that these are just the conditions which have led some veterinary writers to question the accuracy of the term laminitis where there has been no evidence of inflammation in the laminal tissues. NON-INFLAMMATORY AFFECTIONS. THE "RAGGED EDGE." I can readily concur with those writers and concede an occa- sional primary origin of lameness to muscles that govern the movements of the leg and foot, and hold still, that as a rule it will be found, by the effects of the treatment I pursue and recom- mend in such cases, that this class of ailments arises primarily from pressure upon the sensitive organization of the foot, and that the muscular organs that govern the movements of the foot are affected secondarily. The effects of the treatment will reveal the true primary seat of the trouble. I think very little observation is necessary to perceive that it is the sub-acute 81 condition of pain, arising from pressure upon the delicately sensitive nervous organization of the foot that keeps the afflicted animal so long verging upon the " ragged edge " of misery, that even the atmospheric changes, and the fluctuations of dietetic and other influences, are sufficient to keep it constantly approaching to, or receding from, the line that separates the absolute from the relative disability of the animal for the per- formance of its duties. A severer degree of pain, a little over- tasking of the tissues, an apparently slight accidental injury, or the known sympathy that exists between the skin, the visceral organs, and the feet through the medium of the nervous sys- tems, will often then be sufficient to precipitate a crisis that shall topple the animal over the " ragged edge " into the abysses of positive pain, and misery, or of possible destruction. POSSIBLE CAUSE OF STRINGHALT. There is yet another mysterious affection of the nerves whose etiology is of the most doubtful character, and whose origin has been ascribed to various parts of the nervous system, but never before, as far as I am aware, to the region of the foot, or even suspected as having the remotest connection with a dis- ordered condition of the nerves of the foot. Pressure /;w// within or without, affecting the nervous organ- ization of the foot, and especially, perhaps, those delicate fibrillar that control the action of the secreting organs, I opine to be a cause, if not the cause, of the affection commonly called Stringhalt, since I have found the relief of pressure by the use of the dilator to relax the severity of the spasmodic action of this affection. It is fortunately not a destructive one except in a few rare instances. This subject will be more fully con- sidered in the Article on Stringhalt. SECRETING STRUCTURES OF THE FOOT. ♦ ♦ * i. The sebaceous glands of the skin, more numerous in, and around the heels than elsewhere, for the purpose of keep- ing those parts soft and supple that are subject to extension during motion. 2. The coronary villi, that secrete the fibrous portion of the wall. 3. The secretories of the frog-band. 4. The laminal papillae, that secrete the non-fibrous portion of the wall. 5. The secretories of the white solar zone. 6. The papillated membrane that secretes the horny frog. 7. The papillated membrane that secretes the horny sole. 8. The synovial' membranes that secrete synovia for the purpose of lubricating the gliding surfaces of the joints. "AMPLE ROOM AND VERGE ENOUGH." The location and function of these Secreting Structures have been sufficiently indicated in connection with a description of the various substances they secrete. The following brief refer- ence to the microscopic anatomy of these minute organisms, will perhaps be sufficient to show the extreme delicacy of some of the structures and processes that enter into the economy of the foot of the horse, and to suggest the importance of there being " ample room and verge enough " for the elaboration and secretion of the horny textures. 83 CONSTITUTION OF THE SECRETING VILLI. All the secreting papillae and villi are said to be constituted very nearly alike, and to consist essentially of a double mem" brane, basement and epithelial, with a layer of fine areolated tissue between them both, the inner and outer surface of which is covered by minute villi, so called from the surfaces they cover resembling velvet, or plush. In each villus or papilla, a plexus or little knot of arteries, veins and nerves are found to exist, by which the processes of accretion, of elaboration, and secretion, are carried on. The exact modus operandi of these operations, however, are so complex and difficult to investigate, that they have not yet been fully understood or satisfactorily explained. THE FLUID ELEMENTS OF THE FOOT. i. Blood. 2. Marrow. 3. Lymph. 4. Synovia. 5. Mucus. 6. Substances undergoing transformation into horny tissues. 7. The perspiratory fluid. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BLOOD. The first, only, of these elements, the blood, demand any special mention beyond that which might have been made when considering the secreting structures, and the enumeration which was necessary to present a complete account of the sub- stances that play their part in the complex organism designated the foot of the horse. IMPORTANT PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTS. Anything like a full consideration of the properties and con- stitution of the blood would carry me further into the domain of physiology than the majority of my readers would be dis- posed to follow me. There is, however, one view of its physi- 84 cal, and one of its chemical, properties that I wish to impress upon the mind of the student, that have an important bearing upon the rationale of treatment. RED AND WHITE BLOOD CELLS. All the constituents of the blood are not absolute fluids. It contains solid particles, called red and white cells, and, even in a healthy condition of things, when the vessels they pass through have their full natural dimensions, these solid particles can only pass through the capillary vessels in single file. Now I think it is obvious that the very slightest amount of abnormal pres- sure upon the vessels will impede the passage of these cells ; and what is true of the blood vessels and their fluid contents, is equally true of the lymph and lymphatics, and of the secerning organs and their fluid contents. The slightest dimi- nution of the calibre of any of these vessels will interrupt, in some degree, the free and natural flow of their fluids through them, which must be productive of ill effects in proportion to the intensity of the causes. CHEMICO-VITAL CHANGES IN THE BLOOD. The most prominent of these ill effects or morbid conditions I regard as taking place in the constitution of the blood itself. Pathology teaches us that in all inflammatory conditions, whether general or local, chemico-vital changes take place in the blood which diminishes its albuminous, and increases its fibrinous constituents. This renders the blood less fluid, and therefore less capable of passing through the minute capillary vessels, whether it be of the brain, the lungs, or the feet. The circula- tion being impeded in any organ, or from any cause, produces congestion and inflammation. Thus it will be seen how one abnormal action will produce a series of abnormal actions and reactions in other organs besides the feet. These are the merest hints upon a very important element in the question of lame- ness and its causes ; but I hope they are sufficient to show, theoretically, the value of a 85 JUDiCIOUS MECHANICAL EXPANSION < of the horny walls of the foot, whether it be obviously con- tracted, or whether there is only a suspicio?i that some slight degree of contraction may exist. Its practical value can only be fully appreciated by those who know, by a profitable expe- rience, that the highest amount of speed of which a horse is capable can only be developed and maintained by a judicious application of the principles of treatment it is the aim of this work to elucidate and to recommend. THE ' NO CONTRACTION" AND "NON-EXPANSION" HERESIES. * ♦ » PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Having gained a perception of the facts and inductive truths of the anatomy and physiology of the equine foot, we shall be prepared to enter upon the consideration of the pathology and therapeutics — in other words, the diseases that affect that organ and their remedies. With such a preparation, the task is an easy one ; but, before I address myself immediately to this task, I feel there is no escape from the performance of a duty which the position I occupy as a teacher has imposed upon me, namely, that of encountering and doing battle with a couple of twin heresies, whose only success has been in disturbing the peace of the profession, such as it was, without in anywise sub- stituting a more solid basis for its repose than it previously pos- sessed. If these no contraction and non-expansion heresies were merely speculative in their character, their adoption or rejec- tion would be of little moment. It will be shown, however, that a long catalogue of calamitous consequences is, and must be, the inevitable consequence of the adoption of these perni- cious errors. While sitting at the feet of our modern Gama- liels, it was my duty to listen respectfully to their teachings. So I did, and armed to the teeth with the theories I am now called upon to combat, I went forth into the world to do bat- tle with problems of life and death, and soon found myself but poorly equipped for the occasion, after all ; for no amount of plausible theory could extinguish the light of one simple fact 87 I had been taught by those who believe in the gospel according to Gamgee, that Coleman, Turner, Bracey Clark, Lawrence Blaine, Percivall, Youett, Miles, Spooner, and other distin- guished writers upon the foot of the horse, had all been the vic- tims of a hallucination upon the questions of functional expan- sibility and morbid contraction, and were " blind leaders of the blind," and their teachings an u ignus fatuus," "mere coinage of the brain," " chimerical," "mythical," and so forth. It was not until I found myself face to face with pathological problems, upon the correct solution of which depended my "daily bread," that I discovered the real danger of the no con- traction and non-expansion heresies ; for how could I consist- ently apply measures or remedies which directly contradicted such views ? I was unable to cope with such cases until I found one fact that was sufficient to dispel the whole brood of crudescent fancies which I had acquired under the influence of the teaching of "eminent authorities." This one fact has been the open sesame to a veritable cave of mystery which a few, indeed, have essayed to enter, but have halted upon its " precincts," and still fewer have been found to penetrate and explore its myste- rious recesses. FACTS VERSUS THEORIES. Opportunities were soon afforded me of testing the truth of the new or the old doctrines, for there is no middle ground in this question. I was compelled to yield to the irresistible logic of facts. My practice has taken precedence of my theory in this connection. Upon the facts of practice my theory is based. The facts are irresistible and indisputable, and upon these I take my stand, and am prepared to submit my practice to any fair practical test. The theory may be doubted, questioned, nay, utterly annihilated by one better versed than myself in the art of chopping logic. As to the practical facts, however, which are of greater moment than any theory, however plaus- ible, no weapon of logic has ever been constructed that can so much as indent its impenetrable armature. Fortunately, the 88 theory and practice which I have yet to unfold in these pages are so simple and so reciprocal each to the other, and so read- ily demonstrable, that they verify and confirm each other. CONRACTION AS A MORBID CONDITION. THE REVIEWER REVIEWED. Professor Gamgee, senior, a distinguished equine foot-path- ologist, or may I say hippedopathologist, in a reries of ably written articles in the pages of the Edinburgh Veterinary Re- view, some ten years since, endeavored to, and did to a certain extent, revolutionize all the then prevailing opinions regarding the various functions of the foot of the horse, and their relations to the movements of the animal. The marked ability with which these questions were treated, and the prestige which accompanied his name must have had considerable influence upon the minds of every one who read those articles, as they had upon mine. Indeed, at the present time, those articles are being extensively quoted and their author's name mentioned as the best English authority in some of the Agricultural journals of this country. There being no middle-ground of compromise ; no stand-point that would em- brace the old and the new ; I forsook the old and embraced the new. Mr. Gamgee became the apostle of a new dispensa- tion in my estimation as regards " the foot and its func- tions." But for a brief period only, for the new views were contradicted daily by the facts and observations of experience, nay more, by demonstrations as certainly truthful as "any demonstration to be found in the pages of Euclid. Of course, my whilom idol fell from its pedestal, and since then I pay homage only at the shrine of facts, not ' going a cent'' upon the authority of a name nor upon the sanctions that are supposed to accompany " hair's grown gray ' in professional harness, if they have not a solid backing of facts. 89 AGE NOT THE MEASURE OF EXPERIENCE. An eminent practical surgeon has said, " Years are not the measure of experience. It does not follow that the older a surgeon is, the more experienced and trustworthy he must be. The greatest number of well-assorted facts on a particular sub- ject constitutes experience, whether these facts have been culled in five or fifty years." "It is not the extent merely, but the extent in relation to the quality of the experience that turns the lessons to profit." "BE JUST AND FEAR NOT." As I regard the foot and its functions, the final function of locomotion is the aggregate result of a series of minor functions, all acting in harmonious combination. It is possible to have correct views of some of these minor functions, and incorrect views of others. Thus I can consistently credit Mr. Gamgee with having exposed one of the most dangerous errors that have long prevailed with regard to the functions of the horny sole. And, if I were not sufficiently armed with facts, I should hesitate before I entered the lists of controversy with such a redoubtable old swordsman or penman as Mr. Gamgee un- doubtedly is. That gentleman, however, must be content to have his utterances reviewed according to the same canons of criticism as those by which he judges the views and opinions of others in the same field of investigation. He has sacrificed distinguished names and reputations upon what he deems the Altar of Truth, in the interests of veterinary science. He must therefore surrender his own to the sacrificial knife, if it should be demanded in the name of the same goddess, and in the interest of veterinary science. THE ESSENCE OF GAMGEE. Respecting Contraction as a morbid condition of the foot of the horse, Mr. Gamgee denies the existence of any such con- dition, without any qualification whatever. I will select a few of his utterances upon this subject. " If it be true, as I believe G 90 it is, that language constitutes the key to the sciences, it must be equally evident that language wrongly used, tends to con- vey relatively false notions ; and that such is the case regard- ing the word contraction in its common acceptation, in speaking and writing about horses' feet, it will not be difficult to prove. The word ' contraction ' is used to describe a narrow or small foot of the horse." "I conceive it expedient to test the value of the word contraction in its relation to the foot of the horse." " The prevailing notions are alike inconsistent with fact and reason regarding contraction. An imaginary evil has been created, and an indefinite number of equally imaginary measures, to subdue a myth, and in those measures lie the real evils." " If we could dismiss from our minds the word ' contraction ' and all ideas of the inward pressure implied, and adopt instead the word atrophy, we should have a meaning given, to almost all the deranged states of the rfoot of the horse, whether the cause be want of development through perversion of natural influences, or whether it be the effect of misapplied art subse- quently; atrophy, which means wasting, or lack of nutrition, would indicate the true condition of the foot, and lead to in- quiry after causes. "There are many of the most common affections of horses' feet which have yet to be described, and which require the attention their nature demands. Atrophy is the word that clearly indicates these, whether speaking of a particular tissue or several component parts of the same organ." THE CASE STATED. From these extracts it appears to me perfectly clear that Mr. Gamgee objects to the use of the word ' contraction ' in its com- mon acceptation when used to denote a commonly diseased condition of horses' feet. That the word atrophy would best express almost all the deranged states of the foot of the horse. That the etymological value should be tested to prove this. That the wrong use of a word has led to the creation of an imaginary evil, and equally imaginary measures to subdue a myth, and in these imaginary measures lay the real evil. There 91 is no hair-splitting about a word ; ' contraction ' expresses no real condition of a diseased foot ; atrophy, almost every dis- eased condition. AN IMPORTANT OMISSION SUPPLIED. I looked in vain for the promised "test of value" of the words contraction and atrophy, etymological or otherwise, but not being able to find any in Mr. Gamgee's lucubrations, I have endeavored to supply the omission. This omission was very much to be regretted as " correct language is a key to the sciences," and for the want of this key all our predecessors in this department of veterinary pathology have been creating imaginary evils and imaginary measures, and real evils have been the result, so says Mr. Gamgee. ''LANGUAGE IS THE KEY TO THE SCIENCES." We will therefore test the value of the word ' contraction ' before we dismiss it to the limbo of obsolete terms, and of the word atrophy before we clutch it to our bosoms as the one thing needful in veterinary nosology. This must be the all-important inquiry according to Mr. Gamgee, since the wrong use of a word has led to such calamities to horses that we in common deplore and attempt to remove or at least to mitigate. Is con- traction, then, the meaningless term that Mr. Gamgee alleges it to be when applied to certain diseased conditions of horses' feet ? According to ' Webster ' the term implies an act, or a state ; the act of contracting, or shortening ; the act of shrink- ing or shrivelling; and the state of being shortened, shrunk or shrivelled, or drawn into a narrow compass. Entick's Latin Dictionary informs us that the adjective contractus means con- tracted, shortened, abridged, drawn, or gotten together, raised, gathered, wrinkled, shrivelled, joined close, riveted, narrozu, straight, difficult. These various meanings must therefore give the noun contraction a pretty wide range of application. One can almost imagine the lexicographer to have had a horse's foot in ,his 'mind's eye ' when he penned the above definition of con- 92 traclus, for how could we better describe the condition of very large numbers of horses' feet, than by saying they were drawn or gotten together, at the heels, narrow in the quarters, the in- side quarter generally raised above the other, sometimes both quarters unnaturally raised, gathered in, or joined close in the medial frog-fissure, straight or upright quarters ; wrinkled and shrivelled walls and heels, and lastly difficult; difficult indeed for the poor horse to travel with such a locomotive apparatus as this, and most difficult usually to heal. AUTHORIZED DEFINITIONS. From these it appears to me that the word" contraction ' not only includes various conditions, whether of diseased horses' feet, or otherwise, but that it has both an active and passive signification, the act of contracting and the state of contraction, which extends its range of application considerably; for have we not evidence of both active and passive contraction in the various forms and stages and degrees in which it is met ? In the majority of cases that have come under my notice, I believe the active has preceded the passive ; in fact, has produced the passive condition. I therefore cannot coincide with Mr. Gam- gee in the opinion that the use of the word 'Contraction' in the common acceptation of that term, is the " source of imagin- ary measures to subdue myths," and for myself shall, in a gen- eral way, abide by the common acceptation of its meaning. When a nice distinction is necessary it will be time to indulge in it. WHAT DOES ATROPHY MEAN.? The one essential idea conveyed by it is wasting for lack of nutrition. Atrophy is a very useful word employed in the right place, but its signification is too limited to truly indicate many of the most common affections of horses' feet. It will indicate one condition and no more. Let us test ■ 93 THE VALUE OF THE WORD ATROPHY a little further. Will atrophy indicate acute or sub-acute local inflammation ? Yet this is a condition of the foot, the most commonly met with. Will it suit inflammation of any specific tissue of the foot ? I trow not. Will it imply hypertrophy or ossification of the lateral cartilages, Corns, Cracks, or Quittors? These are very common affections of horses' feet. The atro- phied foot is comparatively a rare one. It is usually met with when one foot is smaller than the other and is usually found in association with a shrunken and wasted shoulder, and arm. I regard this as an atrophied condition of the whole limb. It is now ten years since this new gospel was preached, and illustrious converts were made, who abjured the doctrines they had long taught upon this subject. I should like to know what gain to science has resulted from the change of nomenclature introduced by Professor Garngee ? If the use of the word contraction wrongly, has been pro- ductive of so much " imaginary disorder and imaginary treat- ment," surely the truly expressive word for " almost every condition of the diseased feet of horses " must have led to an opposite result? If mere words have the power which Mr. Gamgee ascribes to them, the millennial period for horses ought surely to have arrived by this time. If it has we have not yet been apprised of it in Chicago. FACTS VERSUS FALLACIES. Having, I think, settled the question of fitness of the word contraction, and atrophy, to certain diseased conditions of horses' feet, we will leave the words, which are but signs, to take care of themselves, and discuss the realities they represent. Take another glance at the detached hoof. It has an upper and lower circumferent margin, the posterior terminations of these margins meeting together and merging into a triple-com- missured substance called the horny frog. It has been said that no two human faces are exactly alike. I believe that no two equine feet are exactly alike ; not even 94 those belonging to the same horse. The resemblances are general, not particular. VARIETIES OF FEET— HOW PRODUCED. Professor Gerard, in his Treatise on the Foot, enumerates no less than twenty varieties of feet to be met with either in a natural or diseased state. Spooner, in his Treatise on the Foot, alleges that the various appearances and arrangements of the parts of the foot, "will admit of almost as many varieties as the arrangement of an equal number of the letters of the alphabet." The general causes of these diversities of shape and form arise mainly out of the necessity for affixing a metal- lic protection, by means of nails, to the foot ; affixing it in an unscientific manner, and by neglect and mismanagement in the stable. The fundamental proximate cause of these varieties of de- parture from the general healthy form is the inherent property horn possesses, by which a change of form can be induced by the operation of other causes. It is growing more or less rapidly all the time, and from this cause alone an easy shoe to-day may be a tight one in the course of a week or a fortnight, and may be producing a gradual change in form, by a passive resist- ance to expansion of the hoof from growth, inducing thereby a gradual contraction of its fibres and a consequent gradual alteration in form and structure, of the hoof. THE EFFECTS OF A DRY ATMOSPHERE. Experience has taught me that horses' feet are injuriously affected by an unusually dry condition of the atmosphere. They become hard, dry, and contracted, in the ordinary sense of the term, and the most frequent result of these conditions is a split or crack, chiefly in the inside quarter, where the wall is thinnest, and most readily gives way. I believe that of every twenty horses that I treated for lameness in Colorado, eighteen of them were affected with a split hoof, which I could only attribute to the extreme dryness of the atmosphere, a condition 95 Mr. Gamgee thinks " the most favorable for the development of horses' feet," and therefore condemns the frequent use of water and other dressings to those organs. VARIETIES AND EFFECTS OF CONTRACTION. Whether active contraction takes place at the upper or the lower circumferent margins first will depend upon circum- stances ; and whether contraction precedes expansion, will also depend upon other active causes; but I have always found that if one margin be expanded, the other is contracted. For ex- ample, when coarctation or contraction of the upper circum- ferent margin of the wall takes place, there is a corresponding enlargement of the area of the lower one, giving the bell-shaped form of foot. No ''atrophy'* can be implied in this condition. It is simply an alteration of the external form, induced by ex- traneous influences, gaining as much in one direction as it loses in another. I regard it as a stricture or contraction of the hoof, and when it is the cause of lameness, a removal of the stricture removes the lameness. How this stricture can be removed will be shown by and by. It is not an unfrequent source of lame- ness, and in general it is easily removed, leaving the animal perfectly sound in action. Reverse these conditions, and we have the most frequent cause of lameness, and, moreover, is THE INVARIABLE CAUSE OF QUARTER-CRACKS. Let the lower margin of the wall co-arct, or close in preter- naturally at the quarters, and there will be a corresponding enlargement of area at the upper margin. The coronary liga- ment receives an undue amount of pressure, and quarter-crack is the very common result. One of the most common causes of this falling in or wiring in of the quarters is " cleaning out the heels " whenever the horse is shod, and exposing the soft ' parts to the drying, and therefore contracting, influences of the atmosphere. Occasionally there is lameness when the crack starts; sometimes there is none. There is obviously here an outward pressure of the internal tissues, which are not permit- 96 ted to exert their force at the bottom of the foot, where the wall is strongest, by reason of the wired in or contracted con- dition of that portion of the quarters. Atrophy of those tissues, producing 'atrophy of the hoof structures, I think would be a very unsatisfactory explanation of the phenomenal conditions under consideration. There is crowding, pressure, enlargement, bursting out, and rupture of the horny investment, but no wasting or shrinking implied at this stage of the malady. I find inva- riably associated with quarter-crack this contracted lower mar- gin ; and as I cannot, for very obvious reasons, consider the crack the cause of the contraction, I assign the cause of the crack to contraction. The cure of contraction is also the cure of the crack, and the cure of the crack is the cure of contrac- tion. The cause and the effect are both removable at the same time. I will make it appear at the proper place that a crack of this nature can be closed up effectually, without a nail, clasp or rivet other than what goes through the shoe, or ligature of any kind. The lameness consequent upon these lesions of the hoof disappear usually within a fortnight. The cracks can never be burst open again while the shoe is properly attached, and remains stronger than the hoof. I have treated hundreds of such cases, and a single failure is unknown to me. Not a mark is made with a knife or firing-iron upon the external surface of the hoof, and it would require an acute observer to detect the existence of a crack, or that anything whatever had been done to the feet. No mean advantage, this, over every other plan of treatment. Even the bar-shoe is dispensed with. THE DISEASES OF THE FOOT OF THE HORSE. CONTRACTION. SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT. The reader will now be prepared to follow me intelligently in the practical application of the theory with which I should expect he is tolerably familiar. The evidences of contraction are both positive and negative. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EVIDENCE. Positive evidence is the shape and contour of the foot. A practiced eye can detect a contracted foot without lifting it from the ground, or seeing the animal move, by standing in front of the animal and noting the inclination of the quarters — that is, whether they incline downwards and outwards, which is normal, or downwards and inwards, which is abnormal. This latter condition is that termed zuiring in, and if a horse with- such quarters is not lame in some degree, he is in a fair way of becoming so, or else, what sometimes occurs, the internal struc- tures of his feet have become adapted to the changed contour of the hoof. These are exceptional cases, however; the former constitute the rule. The touch of the finger or open hand of experience will detect the slightest departure from natural tem- perature. The normal temperature of the healthy foot is that of the surrounding atmosphere. Any increase or decrease from this criterion is abnormal. Lameness or tenderness, in the absence of any other symptom sufficient to account for its ex- istence, would complete the positive evidence of a morbidly contracted condition of the foot. It is that absence that con- stitutes the negative evidence in such a case. No crack, corn, bruise, or sprain being detected, the inference is a tolerably safe one that simple contraction is present. I may here inform the student that, having mastered the details of the operation 98 for contraction, he has acquired in the main all that is neces- sary for the safe application of it to all the other diseases of the foot. Some minor details only will have to be described as applicable to each particular case. It is desirable in all cases where the foot is hard and unyield- ing to immerse the foot or feet in a warm flax-seed poultice for 24 hours before operating; but this is not essential. The foot can be prepared, the shoe attached, and the poulticing take place afterwards, if certain exigencies, of time or other circum- stances, do not admit of the opposite course. If the foot is in a fair condition for expanding, the foregoing observations do not apply. PREPARATION OF THE FOOT. First, the old shoe being removed, be sure about the exist- ence of corns. Sometimes they lie concealed, and if not de- tected and disposed of, will occasion disappointment. Being satisfied that there are no corns, and that the case is one of con- traction only, proceed to examine the state of the quarters, as to whether they are weak, thin, shelly, and brittle, or whether they are strong, thick, tough, and sound, with reference to their capacities for the reception of nails into their substance, remembering that the shoe has not merely to be attached to the quarters, but that the nails must grip them so firmly^ that when the shoe is expanded the quarters will be expanded like- wise in the same act. Passing the nails through the centre of the substance of the wall is not sufficient, however high they may be driven, as they are apt to burst out when force is applied to them. The nail should be pointed fairly within the inner edge of the wall, and take a short firm grip, the nails coming out not higher than one inch from the shoe. Nothing short of this will be sufficient for the purpose. If the capacity of the wall be doubted to stand this kind of nailing, it is better to omit nails in the quarters and apply a shoe with inside clips turned up at the extreme ends of the shoe. In preparing the foot, the next point to consider is 99 FORM. By form is meant the proper angle or slope of the foot. If the foot is too long at the toe it is equivalent to lowering the heel and increasing the strain upon the flexor tendon. It also lowers the instep, and frequently presses the tendon of the extensor between the hoof and the highest part of the coffin- bone, while if it is too elevated at the heels, which again is equivalent to being too low at the toes, a tendency to fall or stumble is promoted by it. When there is an abundance of horn, and the foot will bear some reduction in size, the reduction should be made in refer- ence to the slope of the fetlock. As a rule, the slope of the foot should be a continuation of the slope of the fetlock. If the heels are low and weak, they must not be made a particle lower, but the strength and thickness of the shoes at heels and toes must be considered with reference to the same points, namely : the just equilibrium of the animal over himself, pre- ferring a slight extra elevation to any undue depression of the heels. When it is remembered that the horse is being shod to correct certain pathological conditions, and that the floors of almost every stable have a sloping surface, it will be seen how much a little extra elevation of the heels will contribute to his standing at ease in the stable, and how injurious the opposite condition must be. After the pathological shoes have done their work, the use of the same kind of shoe should be continued, omitting the back- nailing^ and using calks or not, or modifying them to suit the animal's habits of going. As a rule I do not approve of the use of toe-calks except under special circumstances, such as for slow draught work, and during the continuance of frosty weather when their use appears to be indispensible. I may further remark that I think no shoes should remain upon the feet of any horse, without being removed or renewed, whether the animal is working or resting for longer than twenty days. To return to the preparation of the foot. After a perfectly level bearing has been obtained for the shoe, not a particle of 100 the sole should be removed by the knife, neither fore nor aft. The heels require opening as far as can be done without draw- ing blood, and the opening in any case should not be larger than is necessary for the Clip to fit into it, and grip the quar- ters behind what is called the angle of inflection. If nailing should be resolved upon, one nail should be got into this very spot, the others at distances dividing the nailing space between them evenly. The line of union between the frog and bars should be weak- ened slightly towards the apex of the frog, but deeply poste- riorly into the commissures. The central frog-fissure should be opened a little through the centre from base to apex. I must here acquaint the student of the intention to cause the principal expansion of the hoof right through the centre. It is not the sides or quarters that is to be torn from their imme- diate connections as some have imagined, but the hoof is made to expand by widening the area of the large triangular fissure into which the frog is inserted like a wedge. The frog has also a central fissure which makes it easy for it to yield. The frog has then more room, internally and externally, and this is the objective point to attain. Give all the tissues room and that is really all that is needed. The one necessary condition in the form of the shoe, is that it shall have a flat, even-bearing surface, upon sole and wall alike, extending fully over the anterior two-thirds of the foot THE BEST KIND OF SHOE. The convex shoe as understood by horse-shoers, supplies this condition. Such a shoe should be fitted as directed, the heels have a good cover even if a small portion of the frog has to be removed to effect this. The outer superior edge of the shoe should be made to coincide with the outer inferior edge of the wall, right home to the heels. A short-heeled shoe will spoil the whole thing. Never mind appearances if the shoes are narrow at the heels. The di- lator will change all that. 101 NAIL HOLES AND NAILING. In punching the nail-holes due regard must be had to the substance of the wall and its obliquity, as a corresponding ob- lique direction must be given to the nail-holes. Without this precaution the whole work will be nullified, unless clips are used. When the shoe is properly fitted, it should be finished in the vice, sharp edges and burrs being removed with rasp or file. An important point (every point is important in this operation), is to weaken the shoe at the point it is desirable for it to yield, when the dilator is applied. By the position of the weak part of the shoe it can be made to yield in any outward direction desirable. If it is desired to expand both sides, the nick in the form of a V should be made as near the centre of the toe as possible, on its inner edge. If one side only is to be expanded, the nick must be made away from the centre to the side it is proposed to expand. Whether with clips or back-nails, the shoe should be nailed on rather lightly than otherwise. 1 Close up ' and ' draw on ' very lightly, remembering that the foot has to be immersed in a poultice, and that this will tighten the nails to some extent, and further that the animal is under- going a surgical operation and is not intended for work until these shoes have been removed and nailing suited to the work or exercise the animal is required to perform, is adapted. The dilator may now be applied, its arms being inserted within the heels of the shoe, and two or three gradual turns of the screw taken. At every turn of the screw the foot should be surveyed to see that the nails or the clips are acting fairly. The instant the horse evinces the least uneasiness, the ex- pansion should be stayed, the foot placed in a poultice, and another turn or two of the dilator 'given the next day or the day following. This is continued until good full-sized heels are obtained and the animal is free from lameness. The poul- tices should be kept on night and day, and except during the time allotted for exercise, which should be given from the first or second day, beginning with half an hour's exercise a day, 102 * and gradually increasing according to the animal's capability, feeding well the whole time. In about a week's time, should the lameness not disappear, or the case should not appear to progress satisfactorily, the shoes should be removed and an examination made ; the ob- stacles to progress discovered if possible; a re-adjustment of the shoes effected, and cautious dilation again pursued, not for- getting the persistent use of the softening poultice, both night and day. There is not more than one case in a hundred of simple contraction that will not yield to simple expansion. In coarse-bred horses the same care should be taken in attaching the shoe, but the same nicely regulated exercise is not so necessary as in the well-bred trotter or runner. Light work for such horses is preferable to standing in the stable. In very many cases Sweeny or Atrophy of the shoulder mus- cles is the result of contraction. See Article on Sweeny. LAMINITIS — ACUTE RHEUMATISM. ACUTE FOUNDER. SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT. There are various designations of this disease, the prominent symptoms of which are the extreme painfulness of progression, the high sympathetic fever, and the peculiar attitude assumed by the animal to relieve the fore parts of its feet from pressure, the very opposite symptom of the navicular disease. Accord- ing to the severity of the disease will be the manifestations of pain, the difficulty of progression, and the extent to which he throws his weight upon his heels. Whether they be hind or fore, or all four, feet, the animal's endeavor is plainly to press as little as possible upon the fore parts of the feet. The fore feet are oftener attacked than the hind ones; less frequently are all the four feet, and more rarely still the hind without the fore feet. It lies down, and is very unwilling to rise when it is down. It wears a very anxious look and painful expression, and sweats very much in a severe case. The temperature of 103 the foot is raised, the arteries throb, and the superficial veins become very much distended. The pulse increases in force and number, frequently going up to 80, and even 100. In slight cases the countenance is tranquil, and he merely shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This latter may be one of the fluctuations of the chronic condition, attracting little notice, but eventually, in most cases, it prepares the way for a subsequent and more violent attack. PROXIMATE CAUSES OF LAM1NITIS. Some of the immediate causes that contribute to an acute attack of this disease deserve mention. Amongst these I deem over exertion, when the animal is out of tone, and the weather is wet and cold, as a very common cause of this disorder. Fast driving, after standing inordinately in a stable, is very apt to produce it, especially in hot weather, and cold water being given the animal to drink. So that too much or too little work may equally be regarded as causing it. A horse is often affected in one foot after standing a long time upon it, in consequence of a morbid condition of the other. The standing necessary in such a case is known to be a second- ary cause of this disease. Inaction arrests the natural flow of blood through the veins, producing congestion and its conse- quences. Wheat, and all kinds of rich food given or taken in inordi- nate quantities is a well-known cause that leads to laminitis, by clogging the stomach and deranging the digestive processes. The thoroughbred horse is more often affected than any other class from the latter cause. High feeding and inactivity, so foreign to the natural habits of the animal, leads to that mys- terious process called metastasis, affecting the brain, the thora- cic and abdominal viscera, and the feet. I entertain no doubt whatever that pneumonia and pleurisy, gastritis and laminitis, and possibly other visceral derangements, as well as those of the skin, are often the products of indigestion. Elsewhere (see article on Tetanus) I have alluded to the func- tions of the nervous system, through which the changes of loca- 104 tion in certain diseases, of which laminitis in one of its forms is effected. I am equally convinced that the same or another class of diseases, 'namely, of the blood, in what is called the 1 rheumatic diathesis,' may be inter-communicable between the respiratory, the digestive, and the locomotive organs, through the medium, primarily, of the circulatory system, as well as the sympathetic ramifications of the nervous system. In this view may be found a possible solution of A PROBLEM THAT PUZZLES MOST WRITERS to account for, and an approach to a rational explanation of the modus operandi by which the inter-transpositions of disease of any one organ to any other may be effected ; in short, how the process termed matastasis operates. THE CURE, "THAT IS THE QUESTION." The various stages and degrees of development of laminitis are known by the terms early and late, congestive and inflam- matory; and although the latter term is objectionable as ap- plied to all morbid conditions of the laminae, it will be of in- finitely more importance than discussing the propriety of the term, to show how the local causes, proximate and remote, that produce this diseased condition can be effectually counter- acted, the morbid conditions reversed, and the cure effected in the shortest space of time, and with the least possible loss of the animal's services, no matter what stage of congestion, inflam- mation, or disconnection of the laminal attachments may have been reached. OCTOGENARIAN VETERINARIANS. I am conscious that I am now stating views which are not in accord with those of all veterinary writers who have written hitherto upon this subject, and that my statements will excite sundry incredulous shrugs of the shoulders, a dubious expres- sion of the lips, or a skeptical elevation of the eye-brows, and perhaps all of these together, on the part of some of our octo- 105 genarian veterinarians. " What ! " it will be said, " Are we to discard all those principles of treatment of which time and ex- perience has taught us the expedience and suitability, and nail upon a foot already suffering an extreme degree of pain a mass of iron, the mere nailing on of which must have the effect of inflicting a still higher degree of torture ? Such a proceeding would be preposterous in the last degree ; absolutely absurd, and a piece of downright folly and cruelty. The man who pro- poses to treat laminitis by any such means is a knave or a fool, or perhaps both, whose descent in the scale of barbarity has reached the very lowest depths of infamous indifference to the sufferings of the 'noble horse.' " THE KIND OF RECEPTION. This is the kind of reception I expect for my proposal to ex- pand the quarters of a foundered horse, to create pressure on the sole of the foot, to elevate, rather than to depress the heels, and generally to act diametrically opposite to all approved principles of treatment handed down to us by our grandmothers. The general mode of affixing the shoe is the same as in con- traction. SPECIAL POINTS IN SHOEING FOR LAMINITIS require, however, to be borne in mind : To guard against any further descent of the sole than what has taken place, rasp the lower circumferent margin of the wall, and prepare the foot and the shoe so that the weight of the animal shall be borne entirely by the sole at its broadest portion. If the foot is large and flat, a light bar may be placed upon the shoe across the broadest part. The shoe should also be broad in the web, and the quarters only should be expanded. If the foot is medium or small-sized, the bar may be dispensed with, but the shoe should be relatively broad in the web, with its whole bearing ' right on ' to the sole. Further descent of the sole is then impossible, and exercise judiciously adapted to the animal's capability, will produce a rapid change in its loco- motive powers. H 106 Moderate elevation of the heels I find to be productive of more benefit than lowering them, as is the practice in the treat- ment of the inventor of a shoe, denominated "BROAD'S LAMINITIS SHOE," well known in England. I enjoyed the advantage of being that gentleman's chief assistant for over a year, and am there- fore familiar with his principles and plans of treatment. I well remember the obloquy sought to be cast upon his special treat- ment by those who were not acquainted with its merits, and I anticipate a similar, if not a worse reception for my theory and method of treatment as applicable to the same disease. A POINT OF SOME IMPORTANCE, as relieving pressure from the part immediately affected in laminitis, is to omit the nails nearest the toe, one on each side, and with the knife or rasp remove a small portion of the horn, at the toe, extending on each side as far as the nail-holes, so that when the animal's weight is on the ground, a knife or any similar instrument may be passed between the shoe and the toe. Every smith knows what is meant by easing the heels. What I require is a similar easing of the toe. A moment's re- flection will reveal the value of this simple expedient when the pain is the anterior region of the foot. When the animal places his foot upon the ground, in such a case, pressure and concus- sion at the toe is obviated, his weight is borne by the broadest and soundest part of the foot, and some relief from pain in progression is the immediate consequence. A ROLLING MOTION EXPEDIENT. Further, a slight rounding of the shoe from heel to toe, by giving a ''rolling motion'' to the foot when in action, and by causing the broadest part of the foot to receive the animal's weight instead of the toe during progression, is also an advan- tage in bad cases, the value of which will be appreciated whenever the expedient is adopted. Horses given to stumble 107 under ordinary circumstances are immensely benefited by giv- ing the shoe this form. It is not a practice, however, that I can recommend for the trotting horse, intended to be driven at the highest rate of speed, as a certain amount of leverage power is necessarily lost by shifting the point of contact with the ground from the toe to the broad part of the foot. I scarcely need say that the old shoe should be removed and the expanding shoe attached with all the care possible under the circumstances, and the expansion should be gradual, and adapted to the exigencies of the cases. Thorough poulticing is, of course, a prime necessity, to soften the horn and to soothe the pain. LOCAL BLEEDING DESIRABLE. Depletion of the blood-vessels of the affected foot or feet, may be employed or not. It is not, as a rule, an essential pro- ceeding. I must say, however, that I think recoveries take place quicker in extremely acute cases, when about a quart of blood has been taken from each foot before affixing the expand- ing shoe. This is one of the few cases in which I tolerate bleeding. CONSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT. If the animal suffers much constitutional irritation, sedatives, such as aconite, arnica, belladonna, hyoscyamus, or opium (see Appendix of Formulae) may be administered with advantage ; and in extreme cases the same agents may be added to the poultices, applied to the feet. This, however, is rarely required, the relief of pressure given by the expansion of the quarters having an almost magical effect in relieving both the local and constitutional symptoms of pain. Judicious exercise, once, twice, or three times a day for short periods, suitable to^the exigencies of the case, as it promotes the circulation^ of new blood through the foot, will restore a healthy tone to the tissues in a surprisingly short time. The foregoing is an outline of the treatment I have found to be as far ahead of Mr. Broad's special treatment, as that gentleman's is in advance of the ordinary professional routine, implied in the phrase "antiphlo- gistic measures to the fullest extent." See Chronic Laminitis. 108 CHRONIC LAMINITIS; CHRONIC FOUNDER; PUMICED FOOT. AUTHORIZED ERRORS COMBATED. There is no material difference in the pathological conditions implied by these terms. The two first are the technical and common designations for the same conditions. The third ex- presses an external characteristic of the sole of the foot which in most cases is the result of an acute attack of laminitis, or it may be produced by the gradual displacement and descent of the sole and coffin-bone without the intervention of any very active inflammatory, or other morbid process, whereby the laminal attachments have become preternaturally elongated, ewakened, and eventually separated in the anterior region of the foot. In either case it is the legitimate product of the never -to-be-sufficiently-deprecated process of sole-gouging, frog- paring, and all-wall-and-no-sole-supporting errors, in preparing and applying the shoe to the foot. SUPPORT THE SOLE. All feet are liable to this morbid condition as long as these errors dominate the practice of horse-shoeing, and, of course, the broad, squatty foot of the heavy, cart-breed variety, is pecu- liarly liable to lameness from the foregoing causes. I can not, however, conceive of any foot whatever being liable to it if the sole is supported upwards, the frog allowed to press down- wards and the quarters kept wide. This principle applied to shoeing will prevent the flattest of feet from becoming convex or bulging at the sole, whether applied before or after the onslaught of laminitis. The smith can easily prevent it, and the " doctor " may readily cure it. Nothing is easier for either if the true principle of shoeing is adopted in one case, and a rational rule of practice applied in the other. " Support the Sole " should be equally the maxim of the smith and the doc- tor. Superadded to this, in the mind of the latter should be. force it back if it comes down. 109 11 HIGH AUTHORITY AND STUBBORN FACTS." I have heard it stated by a very high authority^ that it was preposterous to suppose that the coffin-bone could be re-instated in its former position when rupture of its laminar attachments had taken place. " Once there is a disconnection between the Horny and sensitive structures, there is no possibility of res- toring them to their normal healthy condition ; " and I thought so too until I was able to demonstrate otherwise. It is to be regretted that the ' highest authorities ; are not altogether exempt from a liability to error, as the inconsistencies of their utterances with demonstrable facts, occasionally prove. I do not say that every case of pumiced foot can be restored to normal healthy conditions, but I do say, that recent cases of displacement and descent of the coffin-bone, even after the toe of the bone has become visible, and a wide fissure exists between the bone and the wall, replacement of the bone to its proper place is not only possible, but easy of accomplishment, by simply counteracting the local causes which produced the lesion. A DEMONSTRABLE FACT. I have now to state a fact of practice which will surprise many ; and were it not a fact of much practical importance and value in the treatment of such cases, I should prefer to withhold it, as I know it will be doubted by some, and scouted by others as a " coinage of the brain," etc. It is this, that when the sole has descended, and the toe of the coffin-bone has pro- truded through the sole, the re-instatement of the bone and the sole may be facilitated by expanding the heels, and lowering the frog, even though the foot be a flat one, and it would appear as the height of folly to do so. THE WHY AND THE WHEREFORE. The view which I have given elsewhere of the correlative relations of each part of the foot with its opposite, will clearly explain the "why and the wherefore" of this. I may re-state this view, thus : as the descent of the sole is always accom- 110 panied by the ascent of the frog, the closing in of the quarters, and by increasing the area enclosed by the anterior and antero- lateral parts of the wall ; so the requisite means being taken to force the sole upwards, and to expand the quarters, the ascent of the sole is followed by a descent of the frog, the widening of the quarters, and a diminution of the space enclosed by the anterior and antero-lateral portions of the wall. COMMON SENSE SHOEING THE DESIDERATUM. Such is the present state of general information upon the subject of shoes and shoeing, and their relations to the produc- tion or prevention of diseases of the feet of horses, that thou- sands of these "noble quadrupeds" are to be found in this chronic condition, in its different stages, who are suffering an incalculable amount of misery, which for the most part, is abso- lutely preventable and curable by one and the same means, namely, a common-sense method of shoeing. The incurable are the old confirmed cases of pumiced foot, and I am not cer- tain that a large percentage of these would not yield to a persevering application of the principles upon which the more recent cases are recoverable. HOW TO SHOE THE PUMICED FOOT. The following are Spooner's directions for shoeing a. pumiced foot, which in old cases I cannot improve : " The assistance of the leather sole and the bar shoe is called for in these cases ; the former for the purpose of diminishing concussion, and protecting the sole ; the latter for affording pressure to the frog, and thus enabling it to relieve the crust by supporting a portion of the superincumbent weight. Un- usual care, however, is necessary in the application of the sole, and the arrangement of the tow and stopping under it, in order that there should be no undue pressure at any particular part. Equal care, too, must be exercised in driving the nails, in con- sequence of the thinness of the horn, and for the same reason they should not be too large, although it is necessary that they Ill should be more numerous than common, on account of the greater weight of iron to be attached to the foot. If the shoes be not worn out, they should be allowed to remain on longer than the usual time." NAVICULAR DISEASE. CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS. I am convinced that this disease in its pronounced and ad- vanced form is not nearly of such frequent occurrence as it is generally supposed to be. Its prominent symptom is progres- sion upon the fore part of the feet, and a peculiar action that betrays an unwillingness to . let the posterior part come into contact with the ground. This symptom is the most easily dis- tinguishable when the animal is going up or down hill. Upon rising ground the animal often goes as if nothing ails its feet, but as soon as it travels down-hill, it evinces a painful condi- tion of the feet of a decided character, and a tread upon a small stone will cause it to stumble badly, and perhaps to fall. The difference also between its progression on hard or soft ground is equally manifest. As a rule its progress and development is coincident with the gradual co-arctation or closing in of the upper or lower diameters of the hoof, and especially the lower or perhaps both in some instances, the causes of which have been fully dis- cussed elsewhere in this work. I regard its production by accident or a false step as of very exceptional occurrence. An occurrence of this nature may cause this disease in the hind foot or feet, but it never occurs in those feet unless from acci- dent. This condition is commonly associated with a condition of the frog that appears as if it were drawn up into the centre of the foot to be out of the way of the ground. The temperature of the foot as a rule is increased after exer- tion in this disease, and, after standing in the stable for a short time, after being at an elevated temperature, I have found such feet to be abnormally cold. The blood taken from the 112 foot at this time would be very black and cold, affording evi- dence of venous congestion. I regard unequal temperature under equal conditions as a very suspicious symptom, if not absolutely diagnostic of this disease. RHEUMATIC SYMPTOMS and those of this disease are so similar that one is mistaken frequently for the other. The animal appears lamer in one foot to-day and in the other to-morrow, and so on, as in rheu- matism. That unrelieved pressure of the hoof upon the sensi- tive structures within it should produce a great variety of lesions, sometimes of the bones, especially the navicular bone, and at others of the synovial membrane ; and again of the flexor tendon by weakening its attachment to the coffin-bone, and in short predisposes all the sensitive tissues to take on specific lesions, varying according to the idiopathic tendencies or proximate local causes I have not the shadow of a doubt. Cases of a purely accidental nature excepted, I cannot imagine the existence of navicular disease where there is no contraction. I believe if all feet were shod properly we should scarcely hear of a case in a few years and any hereditary tendency that might exist would be rapidly eliminated. I have absolutely cured so many cases of diseased feet that had been pronounced by good general practitioners to be the subjects of navicular disease, that I never consider a case to be one of that character until I have had it under treatment for three or four weeks, when if I cannot have effected a very marked improvement, I consider such a case to be one of ad- vanced and probably incurable navicular disease. Out of hundreds of such cases I have not found more than two that I could so regard. I am therefore led to consider that this latter disease is much more rare than it is generally supposed to be. The true character of the disease will soon be revealed by the fact that some good but not much is effected by softening and expanding the foot. This process will always ameliorate when it cannot cure, and gives the animal the best possible 113 chance for the beneficial application of further remedial measures. ;the modus operandi of treatment is precisely the same as in simple contraction with which mor- bid condition, I repeat my conviction, it will be found to be identical in a vast majority of such cases. RINGBONE. * ETIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. The following presents in brief outline my views of the etiol- ogy and pathology of this diseased condition. Abnormal con- traction of the quarters ; the wasted frog tissues ; the elevated margins of the great sole fissure ; the unnaturally upright pas- tern constitute the sequence of causes that produce disease in the bones of the navicular joint, of which the os coronis is the superior in point of position.- Like all other morbid condi- tions, especially of the bony structures, there may be in some cases a constitutional tendency to their production under favor- ing local conditions. What more favoring conditions could be imagined for the production of Ringbone, with or without any congenital tendency, or "Ringbotie diathesis " as it is tech- nically termed, than morbid contraction and its sequent causes ? TREATMENT OF RINGBONE. When Ringbone is detected in its incipient stage its removal is easy and certain, first by treating the foot as for simple con- traction and by promoting absorption of the newly effused bony matter around the bone. Acupuncturation of the en- largement will effect this in conjunction with the use of either the bi-chloride or the bin-iodide of mercury. See Preparations in the Appendix of Formulae. Any enlargement of the tissues adjacent to the superior mar- gin of the wall of the hoof will be accommodated by the ex- 114 pansion of the hoof, and thus lameness will be obviated if not present, and removed if it is, since it is the enlargement and pressure of the internal tissures against the superior portion of the hoof that mainly causes the pain upon which the lameness is dependent. I have treated considerable enlargements in this region by the measures I have indicated with the most satisfactory re- sults. Even the cases of confirmed and chronic Ringbone, attended with lameness, may be so benefitted by adapting na- ture s boot, the hoof) to the foot, that the lameness can be got rid of where the enlargements are immovable. OSSIFICATION OF THE LATERAL CARTILAGES. ETIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. This is a morbid condition of these cartilages which is the direct effect of preternatural contraction of the quarters. These cartilages are appendages to the wings of the coffin-bone, and participate in the effects of any lateral pressure which may be exerted against those wings by the contracting and contracted quarters. As already shewn in the anatomy of these structures, they play an important part in the elastic springing arrange- ments of the posterior portions of the foot, and any interfer- ence with the due fulfilment of their functions, will, sooner or later, be manifested by changes in their structural condition. Many examples may be cited of ossification of cartilage in the general animal economy, which are mainly attributable to con- stitutional tendency, and to old age. Whatever congenital tendency may exist to this morbid manifestation, old age can- not be alleged as a pre-disposing cause in horses from four to seven years old, on whose feet they are as frequently seen as on old horses. These are examples of a spurious exostosis as they result from the conversion of cartilage into bone, whereas a true exostosis is the production of bone from bone. Manipulation with the fingers and the fact of the predominence of heat in the 115 region occupied by these cartilages will enable any one to detect this morbid process in the early stage. TREATMENT OF OSSIFIED LATERAL CARTILAGES. Precisely the same treatment as that indicated for Ringbone will remove both the causes and the effects, and render the animal perfectly sound again. If absolute and complete ossi- fication has ensued, I cannot predicate such a result, but the worst cases can be immensely benefited by expanding the quarters, and giving plenty of room for these hardened tissues. Mercurial applications, too, are beneficial when the animal is not too old. See Appendix of Formula? for the Preparations. CORN. CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS— THE OLD THEORY. I used to believe in a very pretty theory concerning the cause and seat of corn until I knew better. According to that theory, the seat of corn was exactly under the wing of the coffin-bone, and the cause, vertical pressure and concussion produced by the combined weight of the animal and the freever- itcal movements of the coffin-bone, hammering and bruising the vascular structures coming between the heel of the coffin- bone and the iron heel of the shoe. The elements of the theory were an active and a passive agent, and sensitive tissues suffering between them. The illustration of the theory was irresistable ! An anvil, a hammer, the active agents. The iron shoe was the passive agent, the anvil ; the coffin-bone represented the active element, the hammer, which was wielded by the motive power of the foot, and the sensitive structures the thing hammered and bruised between them. It seems a pity almost to spoil such a theory, but facts are inexorable ; and from a logical conclusion there is no escape, if the conclu- sion is a sound one. THE WRITER'S THEORY. The facts are that the seat of corn is close to the angle of 116 inflection, and the position of the wing of the coffin-bone con-^ siderably anterior to it, not directly over it ; that the movements of the coffin-bone are perfectly natural and considerably raised above the senitive secreting structure of the sole at this part, and there is a febro-elastic pad between the secreting struc- ture and the bone. Free action of the bone implies healthy action, and such action per se could not crush tissues between it and the iron shoe. If we admit that this action might become abnormal, then it would follow that the injured tissues would be those coming directly between the active and passive agents, and such is not the case, for the corn is devel- oped nearly two inches away from the heel or wing of the coffin- bone, at the spot where the walls of the angle approximate and unite to form the angle. CONTRACTION OR LATERAL PRESSURE THE CAUSE OF CORN. It is not, therefore, vertical pressure which is the cause of corn, but lateral pressure, although when lateral pressure, which is only another name for contraction, exists, and the free movements of the bone are impeded, morbid conditions may be set up between the bone and the sole that would contribute its quota to the general and particular causes of lameness of the animal suffering from such an interference with the free movements of his locomotive apparatus. The lateral pressure theory, however, explains it all, and the effect of removing lateral pressure knocks the vertical pressure theory and Mr. Gamgee's no-contraction nonsense, both to- gether, at the same time, "higher than a kite." TREATMENT OF CORN. I deem it sufficient proof of the correctness of the lateral pressure theory that if we reverse the condition of contraction, right opposite the angle of inflection, when corn is present ; in other words, if we cut out the inner side of the angle, namely, the bar, open the heel, and expand the quarter, lateral pressure is removed. Thus the cause of the condition termed corn being removed the pain abates, and the visible evidences of 117 corn entirely disappear after a second or third shoeing. This, then, is the rationale of the cure for corn whether it be on one or both sides of the foot. CONCOMITANTS OF CONTRACTION. The cessation of lameness will depend upon the extent to which the muscles of the limb have become involved in the atrophied condition. The attachment of the expanding shoe is the same as described in contraction, the difference being in the mode of preparing the foot. The objective point in the treatment of corn is to remove the angular, and restore the rounded form of the inflection. To do this effectively and promptly, the bar must be cut down upon, freely, and the dis- colored horn pared away until it is not prudent to proceed further without drawing blood. The wall must be left flush to the shoe, so that when the latter is expanded, the former will go with it. Depending upon the mildness or severity of the affection, and as before stated, the extent of atrophy of the shoulder and other muscles of the limb will be the time necessary for the elimination of this source of suffering to the unfortunate vic- tim so many false theories. Usually one or two shoeings are sufficient, but occasionally an unusually bad case may require several shoeings, and stimu- lant applications to the shoulder, frequently repeated, before corn and its effects can be completely eradicated. NO BAR-SHOES NECESSARY FOR THE CURE OF CORN. No bar-shoe of any kind whatever is needed in this process of treatment, and the animal's services can be utilized generally after the first few days, exercise being beneficial to the repara- tive processes of the muscular tissues of the shoulder. SUPPURATING CORN. Sometimes called "Festered Corn' or " Bastard Quittor," it but an aggravated result of the same general causes that pro- duce the Dry Com. The immediate cause of the suppurating 118 condition is that of sand or gravel getting between the shoe and the sole, just over the seat of corn, and becoming imbedded there, working its way, aided by the weight and motions of the animal, upwards, until it effects an opening for itself upon some portion of the heel or quarter, not unfrequently pene- trating through the coronary band. It then takes the name of Quittor. A Quittor from this cause has been called a "Bastard Quittor" to distinguish it from Quittors arising from other causes. This form of Corn requires in addition to other mea" sures, a free opening below and above, but especially below, that all purulent matter may escape downwards. NOTHING IN THE WORLD will facilitate the cure of lesions of this nature equal to expan- sion of the quarters affected. Read the Article on Quittor for directions to accomplish this. Some extra poulticing may be required to soften and cleanse all the parts involved. After expansion, two or three days are generally sufficient for this purpose. Then discontinue poulticing and apply a dressing of the Compound Tincture of Myrrh and Aloes, or the Com- pound Tar Ointment. See Appendix of Formulae. Redundant granulations, when present, may be repressed with a little Chloride of Antimony applied with a feather. Occasionally, a leather sole, and but very rarely, a bar-shoe is found necessary. The worst cases give me no concern what- ever, nor will they any one else, who knows the "how " and the "why" of the process of direct dilation, as a remedial measure in such cases. TOE-CRACK AND QUARTER-CRACK. ETIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. The difference between these morbid conditions lies only in differing localities from which they are named. The quarter-crack has been so often referred to, in the eluci- dation of normal and abnormal conditions of the feet, that its 119 etiology and pathology would seem to require very little com- ment. There are some considerations, however, connected with these morbid conditions, that render a proper appreciation of these causes of much importance in the study of the various physiological and pathological questions associated with the foot of the horse. CONTRACTIONISTS AND NON-CONTRACTIONISTS. Simple as the causes of these lesions appears to be, the whole veterinary profession is divided into two hostile parties, contractionists and non-contractionists ; the latter adducing the quarter-crack, and some of the facts associated with its existence, as a positive and demonstrative proof of the truth of their non-contraction views. The former for want of a missing link in the construction of their argument, and unable to ignore the teachings of the " early fathers K of veterinary science, be- lieve in the contraction of the foot, functionally and otherwise, without being able to explode the fallacy which gives coun- tenance to the opposite view. The non-expansion seems to have been a necessary accom- paniment of no-contraction doctrine, as the adoption of the latter has led to the extravagance of the former notion. SOLID PROOFS WANTED; NOT FALLACIOUS ARGUMENTS. The no-contractionists declare contraction as a morbid con- dition, and functional contraction and expansion an " ignis fatuus;" "a myth;' " a coinage of the brain ; " "a chimera;" " a phantom of the imagination ; " and so forth. And upon what ground do they thus dogmatize upon the questions of functional and phenomenal conditions of the foot, and stigmatize as visionaries the ablest writers, upon the foot of the horse, for the last three quarters of a century ? What reasons do they advance, when they ask us to reverse conclu- sions that rest upon the basis of fact, of universal observation and experience? Simply "this and nothing more" having even the shadow of a reason, a false interpretation of the rationale of a quarter-crack ! The no-contractionists draw 120 their conclusions from false premises believing them to be true. They have fallen into the very common error of reasoning from the particular to the general and mistaking exceptional and abnormal conditions for those of a natural and healthy stand- ard. Here is the argument as they present it : " The existence of a crack in the quarter is the invariable result of expansion ; then if the result of expansion, it cannot be caused by contrac- tion ; therefore there is no such thing as contraction." This is the gist of the so-called argument against contraction in any sense as commo?dy understood. THE TRUE RATIONALE OF QUARTER-CRACK. In stating what I consider to be the true etiology and path- ology of quarter-crack, I shall be at the same time exposing the illusive character of this argument. I regard the sequence of causes as follows : Weakening the sole generally has the effect of weakening the lateral support of the quarters, which facilitates their wiring in at the lower circumferent margin, posterior to the wings of the coffin-bone. This wiring in diminishes the area of frog-pressure at the lower circumferent margin, but increases it at the upper margin, from whence the quarter-crack invariably starts. This "wiring in," "falling in," or "contraction" of the quarters at this part, produces a gradual approximation and elevation of the margins of the great sole fissure, and therefore the whole of the frog tissues, sensitive and insensitive, become correspondingly elevated. The frog-tissues thus elevated creates a depressive force at the anterior portion of the sole, which results in preternatural expansion around the region of the toe and under certain favoring conditions the wall at the toe splits, and we have the condition called toe-crack. CENTRES OF ROTATION, OR MOTION. The view which dominates my own mind, and which I find it more easy to demonstrate upon the foot of the horse than to convey either in written or spoken language, has reference to 121 the correlative movements and conditions of the various parts of the foot, whether they be normal or abnormal, active or passive. The whole body has a centre of motion, around which every part of the entire system is perpetually playing and balancing itself. Like the oscillation of a weighing beam, the elevation of one end is accompanied by the depression of the other. I extend this view to each limb, and to each section of a limb, during progressive movements, and finally I carry it into the comparatively passive conditions and relations of the various parts of the foot, whether functionally employed or otherwise. CORRELATIVE MOVEMENTS. Thus I regard the fore and hind, and the upper and lower parts of the foot, as having a counter-balancing and recipro- cating effect upon each other. Each and every part has its opposite. Whichever part is elevated, its opposite is depressed ; and whichever is expanded, its opposite, or correlative, is con- tracted. In one respect, at least, there is a three-fold relation of this nature in the foot of the horse due to the peculiarities of its structure. For example, contraction at the lower margin of the posterior quarters, not only produces expansion at the margin of the quarters where the quarter-crack takes place, but causes expansion at the toe where toe-crack occurs. Thus the same cause that starts a crack in the hoof, on its upper border posteriorly, starts it on its lower border anteriorly, that is to say, at the toe. RATIONALE OF TREATMENT. Conversely if you take a foot with a quarter or toe-crack, and expand the lower posterior quarters, the upper posterior quarters will become contracted in its marginal outline, and the edges of the crack will approximate, and if kept expanded they will not separate, and the crack will disappear, not by the positive union of its edges, but by the process of growth from its respective secreting organs. This is equally true of I 122 the crack at the toe. Judicious mechanical expansion of the quarters will close a toe-crack, as well as a quarter-crack, in the most effective manner, no fissure made by knife or firing- iron being necessary to prevent the extension of the crack. In this case " the cause being removed, the effect ceases." A SINE QUA NON. The application of the shoe in Quarter-crack is precisely the same as. in Simple Contraction, but there is a difference in the preparation of the foot. The bar and posterior sole should be cut down upon freely, and the heel, on whichever side the crack exists, should be opened in order to allow the affected quarter to open out well under the pressure of the dilator. It is also a sine qua ?ion that a nail should be got in posterior to the crack, and if the crack extends from the top to the bottom of the quarter, one nail-hole should be punched so as to admit of a nail passing through the wall transversely to the line of the fracture. AN EXPLODED FALLACY. The inner quarter is the most subject to fracture as it is always the thinnest and weakest portion of the whole wall, and therefore the first generally to contract upon its lower, and to yield to the lateral pressure upon its upper margin. Some attribute the extra liability of the inner quarter to fracture, to the fact that its position is nearer or more under the centre of gravity than the outer. The analysis of the causes I have given, leaves this hypothesis out in the cold. I have no use for it in this place. It has done duty for a learned reason long enough, and has been relegated by me long since to the limbo of exploded fallacies. The causes can be fully demonstrated, and what is of still greater consequence, easily removed, with- out its, to me, questionable influence. I have some respect for the teachings of nature in anatom- ical construction, and for myself am satisfied that if nature had designed the inner quarter to sustain more weight than the outer, she would have made the inner quarter the stronger instead of 123 the weaker of the two. The relative strength of the inner and outer quarters have an obvious relation to their capacities for resisting lateral, rather than those of sustaining vertical pressure. These have been so fully discussed elsewhere, that I need not extend their discussion further here. I deem it to have been conclusively shown that contraction is primarily, and expan- sion secondarily concerned in the production of fissures in the various parts of the hoof, and that those who assert to the contrary are not yet sufficiently instructed in, or have not fully investigated the economy of the foot of the horse. THE QUARTER BEFORE— THE TOE BEHIND. Fissures in the quarters of the hind feet are very rare ; the toe is the most frequent seat of this lesion. The motive forces are chiefly concentrated in the toe of the hind foot; conse- quently this part is subjected to greater strain than the toe of the fore foot where these conditions exist in a much less degree, and hence the greater frequency of toe-fissures behind than before. A powerfully predisposing cause in all cases is a brittle and unyielding condition of the horny wall. THE CAUSE— PAR EXCELLENCE. The proximate, exciting cause, in all cases is, par excellence a morbid contraction of the hoof at points that obstruct the functional expansion and contraction of the quarters, and causes a morbid expansion of parts that are not designed to expand, except in a very minor degree. WHAT TO DO, AND WHAT NOT TO DO. A few further observations may supplement the treatment already indicated. A very severe crack in the toe or quarter may require a rivet or a nail to keep it sufficiently close while growing down ; al- though of hundreds of such cases, I have never met with but one that required it during the last five years. \ 124 Remove foreign substances before closing the fissure ; but on no account bevel the edges of the fissure, nor introduce the knife or cautery into the fissure, nor make any internal inci- sion at the extremity of the crack, nor use a ligature of any kind ; but simply approximate the edges by gradual expansion of the quarters, and keep on a shoe that you can expand when- ever the case appears to require it, and to keep the crack closed while it is growing down and out. Removing the external exposes the internal edges to atmos- pheric influences. The latter are apt to become dry and curl up, and set up a new source of irritation if they should happen to be unprotected for a day or two, and may prolong the period assigned for the cure indefinitely. The hoof should be poul- ticed for a few days prior to and following the operation. Rapid obliteration of the crack can be best promoted by keeping the coronary ligament stimulated. (See Hoof Stimu ulants in the Appendix of Formulae and the whole hoof in a moderately moist condition.) In a few weeks, even the coron- ary ligament^ if ruptured, will have become united, and a new and continuous circle of horn will have formed, and in from nine to twelve months, depending on the care taken of the case the whole of the crack will have disappeared and an entirely new foot of normal dimensions will have taken the place of the old one. I can cure a majority of all cases within a fortnight, and an acute professional examiner not previously aware of the existence of a crack in the quarter, would have to make a very close examination to detect it, and it would escape the notice a less acute one altogether. FALSE QUARTER. SHELLY FOOT. SEEDY TOE. FALSE QUARTER is the result of an injury to the coronary ligament, which may be caused by a solution of continuity of the ligament as a conse- quence of severe Quarter-crack, or the ravages of a Quittor, or other severe injury to the ligament in that region. It may be 125 so slight as to present a mere line resembling a fissure, or the whole quarter may be an imperfectly formed one from the self- same cause, namely, interruption or suspension of the process of secretion, by which the fibrous portion of the wall is secreted. We may have, therefore, the semblance of a crack without the reality of one ; or a part, or the whole of the quarter in a weak, soft, and almost yielding condition, that can barely afford pro- tection to the laminated structures, and besides, is ill-calculated to sustain the strain imposed upon it by those structures to which it should give support, and from which it derives what little strength or substance it possesses. TREATMENT. If but a mere line resembling a crack is present it is of little moment, excepting that if the causes and conditions that pro- duce Quarter-crack, are present, this line being the weakest part, a crack through this line is liable to occur at any time. This may always be prevented, by counteracting the causes and removing the conditions referred to, by the judicious appli- cation of the Dilator, as this, by expanding the area of the bear- ing surface toward the ground, prevents the internal frog-tissues from pressing unduly upon the lateral cartilages and the coron- ary band. If, however, the secreting properties of the ligament Have been destroyed, by local lesions or the application of power- ful caustics, as is sometimes the case, there is no cure for such a condition, but it can be palliated by removing the bearing of the shoe completely from the affected quarter and distributing it over every other part of the foot. SHELLY FOOT. is a condition of the external wall of the foot in which the outer portion appears more like a scale or shell, and doubtlessly results from an imperfect secretion of the horny matrix that agglutinates together the fibrous constituents of the wall. That lack of healthy development may be, and usually is the result 126 of but a slight degree of abnormal contraction in the quarters, I think needs no labored effort to prove. Regular nailing is very difficult of accomplishment in such a foot. In such feet, the point of the nails should enter the wall at the inner edge, taking a more oblique direction outwards, and not be driven quite so high up as usual ; thus giving them a short and firm grip. When the expansion of such feet is intended, Clips as directed in the treatment of Simple Contraction should be used. Under these conditions the new growth of the wall, whether aided or not by stimulating liniments to the coronary secreting structure, will grow down sound, healthy and strong, and the edge of the wall will no longer chip off under the nails, like a piece of mahogony veneer, which is the characteristic of a Shelly Foot. SEEDY TOE. SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS. This diseased condition of the foot is of much more frequent occurrence in England than in America; I presume for the reason that granite pavements and macadamized roads are in more universal use in the former than the latter country. It is closely allied in its characteristics to the condition called Shelly Foot, yet it has some distinctive peculiarities about it of which the name Seedy Toe is the more expressive designa- tion. It is mainly on the front of the foot that it commits its ravages, and usually begins at the toe. That, like the general Shelly condition of the foot, it is due mainly to defective secre- tion of the horny matrix which binds the fibres of the wall into a tough and compact mass, and that this is a result of a mor- bidly contracted condition of the quarters, I cannot entertain a doubt. This view derives support from the fact that nearly, if not, all toe-cracks commence at the same spot as the seedy- toe, and, therefore, that the same class of causes may produce the different effects, accordingly as they may be governed by different external conditions. Contraction of the quarters will produce an elevation and disuse of the frog. Disuse of the frog throws more weight upon the front part of the foot, and if the horny sole be weakened as it usually is, depression of the 127 sole must follow, causing an undue lateral strain outwards upon the horny wall which is felt most at the toe ; and in addition to this the toe is further weakened by the nick for the toe-clip of the shoe, rendering the foot, especially at the toe, peculiarly liable to concussive influences. I prefer this view of the origin of these cases to the parasitic hypothesis, still, deeming it quite possible that its ravages subse- quent to its disorganization maybe ascribed to parasitic action. It may be regarded as a species of dry-rot similar to the dry-rot of wood. There is this difference between Shelly-foot and Seedy-toe ; in the former it is a thin external layer of the wall that is separated, while in the latter it is the inner or laminated layer that is separated from the body of the wall. THE GENERAL TREATMENT should consist of shoeing the foot in accordance with common sense principles so as to promote the growth of a sound, healthy foot, and this can only be done effectively by restoring the lost functions to the heels, the sole and the wall, by the judicious use of the Dilator. It is advisable to explore the extent of the separated portions, to remove the debris, and arrest any further extension of the separation by injections of oil of tar, turpen- tine or carbolic acid. Measures of absolute cure must look to the displacement of the old conditions by the substitution of new and better ones, and the production of new and normally fashioned feet. Stimulating applications to the coronet and keeping the hoof under the conditions of moisture and exercise, will promote this end in the shortest period of time that is pos- sible. A run at grass or the freedom of a loose box is almost essential in such cases. 128 GREASE (SCRATCHES); CHAPPED HEELS; CAN- * KER; THRUSH. The ETIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY of all these diseased conditions are substantially of the same nature. They are diseases of the various secreting structures of the foot, or of its immediate connections. The fetid fluid emanations from these structures, are the perverted and vitiated secretions, which under healthy conditions were requisite for the fulfillment of certain appropriate functions, in providing for the wear and tear of the horny tissues in the latter cases, and of keeping the skin of the heels supple and soft in the former case. FATTY FOLLICLES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. It may not be known to every one of my readers that the entire skin of the animal is kept in a supple condition by an oily secretion which is formed within the skin, through the means of the sebaceous glands, or fatty follicles, and that those parts where there is the greatest amount of motion in conse- quence of their contiguity to joints, and therefore, liability to stretch, the skin is thinnest, and the fatty follicles are clustered together in the greatest number. In no part of the body are these follicles exposed more to deleterious influences than at the heels. Here they are more exposed to wet and cold, and the effects of accumulations of mud, and neglect ; and remote- ness frorn the centre of circulation, than at any other part of the system, and here the motions of the foot and their imme- diate contact with horn-structure require that they should be kept in the highest state of efficiency. CROWDING AND DWARFING THE TISSUES. That the mildness or malignancy of the diseases depend much upon local and constitutional causes, the result of neglect and bad stable management, cannot be questioned. 129 That the chief cause, both predisposing and exciting, is to be attributed to a morbid contraction of the foot, acting mainly upon the posterior part, I think, is equally unquestionable. Persistent undue contraction of the quarters not only crowds the secreting structures of the horny sole and frog, but involves the sub-cutaneous tissues adjacent to the heels in the general crush. Crowding of the secreting structures of the foot is no more conducive to healthy exercise of function and healthy nutrition than crowding in other spheres of observation, such as trees in a garden, or plants in a bed. The Chinese custom of encasing the feet of their female children in shoes of iron, has the same effect- in kind upon the human foot as the hardened hoof and its iron appendage has upon the foot of the horse. DIFFICULT TO MISUNDERSTAND. I should think the etiology and pathology of these affections difficult to ////^understand, but lest they should not be, I will glance at the chain of causes which connects faulty shoeing with Grease, Canker and Thrush ; weakening the sole gener- ally, and opening the heels leads to the falling of the first anteriorly, and the closing in of the quarters posteriorly. The two most important functions of the foot at first are partially, and eventually, totally suspended by the injudicious use of the paring-knife alone. Those usually removed portions should be the solid points of resistance for the spring of the sole within the foot, and the expansion of the quarters when the weight of the animal descends during motion. THE MACHINERY IS OUT OF GEAR. The abnormal pressure created by the altered structure and functions of the horny tissues, produces vascular excitement and inflammation of the tissues subjected to the pressure, which communicates itself by sympathy with, and to, adjacent and subjacent tissues. All the secreting structures in, and around the foot, are affected in a greater or less degree, de- 130 pending on various constitutional and other local causes. The stomach, lungs, brain and feet are known to have an intimate connection with each other in certain pathological conditions ; and bad stable-management is known to have a powerful in- fluence in producing a bad state of things about both feet and heels. I repeat then, the fetid emanations of Grease or Scratches, are the perverted and vitiated secretions of the Seba- ceous follicles around the heels; those of Thrush, of the secre- ting vessels of the Frog, and those of Canker of the secretories of the sole. BAD ENOUGH AT THAT. There is an important difference between Thrush and Can- ker. The vitiated secretions of the former have a chance of escape through the central frog-fissure, while those of the latter have no way of escape whatever. They therefore remain, and by their eminently corrosive action destroy the connection between the sensitive and insensitive soles, extending by de- grees all over the sole. Occasionally the laminated structures become involved" in the cancerous onslaught, when it becomes a very serious affair, but when it is confined to the sole, it is bad e?iough at that. TREATMENT OF GREASE OR SCRATCHES. Dilation is nine-tenths of the cure. Mild measures may do for mild cases, conjoined with better stable management. In the Appendix will be found several formulae that in such cases are used with good effect. Where, however, there is pain, in- flammation, swelling, and lameness as there frequently is, and possibly a deep crack or fissure in the bend or cup of the heels, softening the feet with poultices and expanding the quarters constitutes nine-tenths of the cure, The pressure of the quar- ters removed, the inflammation subsides ; the tissues resume their normal size, and having " room and verge enough," the parts quickly resume their healthy functions, lameness dis- appears and " all serene " is the word once more. The Appen- dix will furnish medicinal agents that will quickly heal any broken surface of the skin. 131 TREATMENT OF THRUSH. Before I understood the importance of judicious Dilation, I have seen bad cases of Thrush that were deemed incurable and have known them to be destroyed on that account. Since that time I have found every case of Thrush, however bad, that I have met with, susceptible of an early and absolute cure by that process alone, conjoined, of course, with poulticing. Dila- lating the quarters will widen the space wherein the frog should find an easy and roomy bed. Give a wasted or thrushy frog room to develop itself and it will soon do so, and a plump healthy-looking frog will soon be seen taking the place of the puny, puckered up, putrid pest of the past. I cannot imagine an incurable case of Thrush if I have but the means of softening and expanding the foot which is the subject of it. Those who wish to employ medicable measures will find the best known, in the Appendix. The Dilator and the poultice I regard as the radical remedy for the present, and the positive preventive for the future. THE ALL-IMPORTANT ADJUNCT. A discharge from the cleft of the frog is not always a result of Thrush. An accidental puncture or wound in that region, from some other cause may be the origin of it. But whatever may be the nature of the injury, there is no more useful adjunct to be found in the removal of all diseased conditions of the foot, than careful and circumspect dilation of the quarters. TREATMENT OF CANKER OR FOOT ROT. SOME CURES CONTRARY TO ALL EXPECTATION. Canker, for reasons already stated, is not so readily disposed of as Thrush, especially in its worst forms and advanced stages. Yet I have cured some cases that were so badly cankered that I feared the whole foot would become detached, from the al- most universal presence of the " leprous distillment," — the can- 132 cerous emanations. My first object is to arrest the progress of decomposition, and, therefore, of separation of the laminal attachments, and of the connections of the horny and sensitive soles. Under ordinary circumstances it is always difficult to get antiseptic agents to act in a direct manner upon the decom- posing tissues within the foot. In this case it is necessary to pare down the sole pretty free- ly, to make two, three, or more small orifices for the entrance of the antiseptic agents and the evacuation of the imprisoned products of decomposition. The quarters should be expanded slightly, even where separ- ation has taken place, for the same reasons that apply to the sole. The foot should be saturated with antiseptics as early as possible, as decomposition must be arrested before re-organ- ization of the tissues can take place. The best antiseptic stimulants I have found to be that of bi-chloride of mercury found in the appendix. This and a charcoal poultice, will remove all fcetor from the foot, and promote a healthy healing action in the affected parts After a few days of this treatment, pressure — genial pressure — must be procured upon the sole by the animals own weight and the judicious packing of the sole with cotton-batting, satu- rated with stimulant dressings. (See Appendix.) After a week the shoe should be re-set, redundancies of horn removed, a new diagnosis instituted, and measures taken accor- dingly upon the same general principles I have laid down. Usually a strong leather sole made of boot-makers sole leather and packing, and drawing on the shoe somewhat tightly, to create pressure all over the sole will be necessary to promote the cure. Usually a newly formed hoof will displace the old shell, and then it is only a question of time and judicious shoe- ing when the " old shall have passed away and all shall have become new." 133 ATROPHY OF THE FOOT. DRY-ROT. CONTRACTION BOTH CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE. This is a condition of the foot of the horse occasionally met with. The atrophied foot is usually perceptibly smaller than the comparatively sound one. Such a foot is a " miserable apology " for a foot, and is commonly accompanied by an atro- phy of all the pectoral, shoulder, and brachial muscles, in con- nection with the atrophied foot. Contraction is both a cause and consequence of this state of things. Each has reacted in the production of the other. It is not by any means an incur- able condition. The same general principles as are applied to contraction will remove atrophy of the foot when there is no bar in the absolute disorganization of the foot-tissues. Giving the tissues room to expand and grow will restore the lost functions of nutrition if any thing will. If expansion of the foot will not effect this, nothing will. No treatment will avail the muscles that move the leg if the foot is disordered. Get the foot well, and developement of the muscular tissues named will follow. It may, however, require months of judi- cious exercise, and external stimulation, to restore them to their normal capacity and action. ACCIDENTAL INJURIES TO THE CORONARY LIG- AMENT FROM TREADS, BRUISES, CALKS, AND QUITTORS are most frequent in the winter when the necessity exists for Sharp Calks to the shoes. They sometimes end favorably, and at others become the most intractable of injuries, leading to the destruction of the animal. Pain, lameness, and irritative fever, are the usual accompaniments of these ailments. 134 A CALK UPON THE INSTEP I have found the most troublesome to treat, from the circum- stance that the tendon of the extensor pedis passes over that part and is often lacerated just where it is inserted into the superior process of the os pedis. In such cases the bone fre- quently gets involved with the tendon, Caries supervenes, and separation of the tendon from the bone would necessarily fol- low. Such cases may then be considered incurable. When they occur near the quarters they are less dangerous, but they sometimes take on the CHARACTERISTICS OF QUITTOR. The suppurative matter that forms in these tissues is of a very acrid nature, and it eats its way, when it has no way of escape, forming burrows or sinuses in various directions, not un- frequently causing a detachment of the hoof from its connec- tions with the sensitive tissues. A REMARKAELE RESEMBLANCE. I have known a mere tread, giving no external evidence of injury to the feet beyond the gait and manner of moving its leg, almost peculiar to an injury in this particular spot. I say almost, because the movement very closely resembles that of a horse with Stringhalt. It is raised from the ground much higher than usual, and is placed upon it again with as little flexion of the foot as possible. Such cases as these are com- monly neglected until too late to effect a cure. The intention, in all cases of this nature, should be to prevent or arrest sup- puration. The chances of safety for the animal depend upon the ful- fillment of this condition. The most powerful antiseptics are indicated in the advanced stages. The less powerful may be sufficient in the earlier stages. 135 THE MOST POWERFUL ADJUNCT OF ALL where any inflammation of the tissues has taken place, and lameness is produced, is the use of the Dilator. Soften by poulticing, and expand the foot as early as possible, and the congestion and inflammation which is aggravated by the un- yielding nature of the horny wall, will receive no aggravation from, that cause; there will be room for the temporary enlarge- ment of the softer tissues, and the work of reparation will go on uninterruptedly. The practitioner who becomes acquainted with the process of expansion of the foot will experience com- paratively little difficulty in the treatment of any of these diseases that admit of a cure. The shoe used for expanding should have heel-calks pro- portionately high to the requirements of the case, in order to give relaxation and rest to the tendons and ligaments of the leg. The lesser injuries of this kind yield readily to the appli- cation of a mixture of equal parts of carbolic-acid and glycer- ine. Cases of a somewhat severe nature may require the appli- cation of a softening poultice to the affected part, until the inflammation has subsided, and subsequent healing, by healing unguents. I particularly caution against the common practice of rasping the quarters thin, and cutting down, or lowering the wall at the quarters. These are often fatal measures. Get on a shoe and expand the quarters. The results will suprise you by its rapidly beneficial action. TETANUS — LOCK-JAW. ETIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. From " Druitt's Surgery " I have derived the texts for a series of observations regarding the influence of pressure and other causes, upon nerves, and nerve-force, which may prove servic- able in our endeavor to elucidate the etiology and pathology of the diseases of the foot of the horse, an organ pre-eminently exposed, and susceptible, to influences of this nature. 136 " Tetanus may originate in some disorder of the blood, or nerves, without a wound, when it is called idiopathic. That which is caused by a wound is traumatic." As the foot of the horse is so frequently the subject of the traumatic variety of tetanus, and is especially exposed, and susceptible, to disorders of the blood, and nerves, from pressure of its horny envelope- ment, may we not, more frequently, regard the blood and nerve disorders of this organ as the source at least of some of the idiopathic forms of this disease met with in veterinary practice ? And further, may we not, with possibly good results in all cases of supposed idiopathic tetanus, proceed to treat the feet in the same manner that I shall recommend for adop- tion in all cases where traumatic tetanus is distinctly traceable to a wound of the foot ? "Tetanus may be caused by wounds and external injuries of every description, but especially by lacerated and punctured wounds of the hands and feet ; wounds irritated by foreign matters, or in which nerves are exposed. 11 It is probable, however, that in most instances some con- current or predisposing cause, in addition to an external injury, is required to produce tetanus. Of such causes, the best estab- lished are, first, an irritable state of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane ; and second, exposure to cold, damp, night- air, especially during warm weather. " The same causes, cold and visceral irritation, which pre- disposes to the traumatic, may of themselves produce the idio- pathic tetanus." MYSTERIOUS INTERTRANSMUTATIONS OF DISEASE. If the veterinary pathologist will here recall the doctrines and facts relating to the sympathy that exists between the skin, the mucous membranes of the lungs, and the abdominal vis- cera, and then add those of the feet to this list of sympathetic tissues, he will not find it difficult to perceive the feasibility of the view I have entertained for some time, namely, that in cer- tain conditions of the nerve structures, and forces, of the foot 137 of the horse, induced mainly by external causes, the principal of which is undue pressure exerted by its horny investment, there exists a predisposing cause to visceral irritation, both thoracic and abdominal, and thence to the skin, — or the order of causation may commence with the skin or either of the visceral structures, and end in the feet through the medium of the excito-motory or the sympathetic system of nerves, or, per- haps, both conjoined ; and that thus, those mysterious inter- transmutations of disease, termed metastasis, may in some rational manner be accounted for. THE FACTS OF PATHOLOGY indicate an intimate connection between the external skin and the internal mucous membranes. Cold in the former produces functional derangement in the latter, and vice versa. Func- tional derangements of the latter will produce manifestations of disorder in the former. The removal of the cause or causes in one, will induce a cessation of the effects in the other. Let it also be remembered that the foot is made up of the same materials as enter into the composition of the skin and we shall have no difficulty in conceiving of the sensitive struc- tures of the foot, — its secreting papillae, and its whole nervous organization, as involved in the general mutual sympathy that exists between the external skin and all internal mucous membranes. CONCURRENT OR PREDISPOSING CAUSES. Moreover, the legs, and especially the feet of horses, being the furthest situated from the nerve and circulating centers — those parts, and particularly the feet — are more exposed and liable to the effects of a cold and humid atmosphere than other parts nearer the centers of circulation and of nerve force. Add to these considerations the fact that the iron appendage to the horse's foot is a rapid conductor of heat, and that in very numerous instances horses have to stand upon a cold, k 138 stone pavement, which circumstance, in conjunction with a thin weak sole, and probably an acclivity of the floor of the stall to stand against rather than upon, more fatiguing in its effects than a moderate amount of ordinary labor, and I think we have reasons, many and sufficient, for regarding a disordered condition of the blood and nerves of the feet as a frequent source of visceral irritation and per consequence, of many cases of idiopathic tetanus. With such "concurrent or predisposing causes " in almost perpetual existence to diseases of the nervous system, and to 'maladies of the visceral organs, — and the tegumentary system together with their sympathetic relations, is it any wonder that cases of idiopathic tetanus should arise out of these morbid conditions, without the stimulus of an external injury, or that traumatic tetanus should be so frequently the sequela of a puncture in the foot ? Since the adoption of this practice I have never known a case of tetanus to supervene upon an injury of this nature when I have had charge of the treatment from the beginning. Several cases of tetanus that have been placed under my charge, in mules and horses, after the teta?iic spasms have set in, and known to have had a recent wound in the foot — have come out right, but I attribute this result to the process of cutting down upon the wound, applying narcotic poultices and above all to the free use of the dilator, rather than to any constitu- tional measure of treatment. AN INVALUABLE ADJUNCTIVE MEASURE. If general facts accord with my own experience, punctured wounds of the foot are the most frequent source of tetanus. Before I practiced dilation of the foot I have known some cases to terminate unfavorably under ordinary treatment, and some to take a considerable period to get well — and an occa- sional one eventuated in tetanus, from which I never knew one to recover. 139 • Since practising dilation my estimate of the value of this process of treatment as an adjunctive measure in all cases of wounds and injuries to the feet, even in cases where tetanic symptoms were fully manifested, may be learned from the fol- lowing statement : In all cases of injury to the feet placed in my charge for treatment, I soften and dilate the quarters, more or less, according to circumstances and the nature of the case. I practice this general measure upon the principle that, in any case, it can do no harm, and in some cases it may prevent tetanus — the constant dread of the veterinary practitioner — from supervening. Its direct benefits, in the majority of cases, however, are so plainly manifest in facilitating the healing pro- cesses— in conjunction with purely medicative measures of treatment, that I have but little or no confidence in any plan of treatment without it. STRINGHALT. A MYSTERIOUS MALADY. I propose to record some observations which I have made in the course of my experience upon a somewhat barren topic. This subject has engaged the pens and baffled the acumen of such pathological investigators as Professors Spooner and Sewell, and Percival, Blaine, Youatt, Goodwin, and Busteed, of New York, besides some other of lesser note. I do not suppose that the small item of observation which I wish to record will amount to anything more than a suggestion, or clue, which others as well as myself may follow out who may have opportunities for experiment and observation. The pau- city of the information we possess as to the true origin and seat of this malady and its supposed absolute remediless char- acter, may sufficiently excuse the smallness of the donation. Writes Professor Varnell, " There is a mystery about the mal- ady, which, for the present, is darkened over with a heavy mist, that requires considerable research to clear away." During 140 my noviciate at the Royal Veterinary College, it was my priv- ilege to witness numerous dissections of Stringhalt subjects, and presumably to learn all that was then known upon the etiology and pathology of that disease. NOTES AND QUERIES. The following is the substance of some of the notes which I took of the lectures by Professor Spooner upon this subject. They may prove interesting to the student of hippedo pathology. There is a vital contractile force in involuntary muscles which is entirely independent of, and distinct from the force which is subservient to the influence of the will. Mechanical pressure alone would produce pain. Stringhalt as a rule only affects the hind extremities, although Professor Spooner has seen an instance of a peculiar jerking action of one fore-leg, which he considered to be a true case of Stringhalt. PECULIAR MECHANISM OF THE HOCK-JOINT. The mechanical construction of the astragalo-tibial articula- tion, the principal articulation of the hock joint, explains in some measure the jerking action peculiar to, and diagnostic of, this disease. One effect of the peculiarity of this construction may be observed when a horse lies down. The hock joints are flexed to a certain extent, and then the animal falls down sud- denly. He cannot, if he would, let himself down gradually, and his rising from the ground is always with a sudden spring- ing movement, or jerk. This peculiar mechanical contrivance can be equally well observed in the dead subject, by dissecting away everything but the lateral ligaments of the joint which hold the articulatory surfaces of the joint in close apposition. The joint movements being effected by the hands, they will be found to move in one direction with a.jerk and snap movement. The mere mechanism of the movement is therefore readily un- derstood in this manner. From this mechanical peculiarity it is deduced that the power or force that acts, as the natural 141 balance or controling force in natural and healthy action, is more or less overcome or destroyed altogether in a condition of disease, and this apparently spasmodic action becomes invol- untary and permanent. It is thence inferred, that this control- ing force has its origin in the substance of the muscles that antagonize the muscles that lift and extend the foot. These are the gastrocnemii muscles whose powerful tendon passes over the point of the hock. Thence, it is inferred that weakness or partial paralysis of these latter muscles, or any portion of them, would allow of that jerking action of the joint to go partially or wholly unan- tagonized, or unregulated. The peculiar jerk which indicates Stringhalt is involuntary in its character, and there is no evi- dence of pain to the animal or uneasy motion to the rider. It is not a lameness therefore which is a consequence of pain. Professor Spooner has known cases in which after a severe run with the hounds, the symptoms have been more severe for a time. In most cases Stringhalt comes on gradually, but it does sometimes make its appearance suddenly. DOES STRINGHALT CONSTITUTE UNSOUNDNESS ? Undoubtedly, it is a disease, and therefore unsoundness. Is it due to an exalted action of nerve force, or to the opposite con- dition ? In other words, is it due to spasm or paralysis ? Mr. Spooner at one time believed it to be due to the former cause, but he now ascribes it to the latter. PROFESSOR SPOONER'S HYPOTHESIS. The following is the hypothesis upon which his later view is based. Muscular tissues possess a capacity for storing nerve- force. During rest these tissues accumulate this force which forms a reserve supply for extraordinary occasions of speed, etc. That muscular tissues are not immediately deprived of the power to act, even when the main supply is as it were cut off. This is considered proved by the muscular contractions which are observable after death, and also by the muscular 142 movements which can be excited by galvanism soon after death. That it is a nerve-affection is admitted by all writers on the subject, but what part of the nervous system is the precise locale of the disease is a problem that yet remains to be solved. PERCIVAL'S OPINION is shown in the following quotation. " Those who suppose it to be a muscular affection, mistake, I conceive, the effect for the cause. I choose rather to refer its seat to the spinal mar- row, or to the nervous trunks passing between it and the affected muscle." Professor Spooner was not disposed to dogmatise upon a question upon which so little light could be thrown by anatomical investigation. Lesions of the medulla spinalis and of the larger branches of the nerves had frequently occurred when there was no evidence of Stringhalt, and a dissection of the worst cases of Stringhalt had revealed no evidence what- ever of a lesion of the nervous trunks or branches. r t MICROSCOPICAL RESEARCH had also failed to reveal any abnormality of structure. That the disease resulted from a functional disturbance of nerve-force, he thought there could be no doubt whatever. He had found on one occasion a spicula of bone pressing against a nerve in the spine; on another a small abscess pressing against the nerve. He had also found a thorn imbedded in the nerve of a subject of Stringhalt, but as he had found thorns so frequently in other than Stringhalt cases, he attached no importance what- ever to this latter circumstance. PROFESSOR SPOONER'S FINAL JUDGMENT of the matter was that the true explanation, if ever it could admit of verification would be that of a partial paralysis of the nerves of the gastrocnemii muscles. These muscles are so arranged that they antagonize or check any undue action each of the other, and thus produce easy and harmonious move- 143 ments. But a partial paralysis of the nerve-force of one mus- cle or set of muscles would permit of an irregular and exalted or spasmodic action on the part of its opposing or antagonistic muscle, or set of muscles. Now the antagonists of the exten- sor muscles are the gastrocnemii, and hence spasmodic irregu- lar nervous action of the extensors, aided by the PECULIAR PHYSIOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTE of the hock joint already explained, constitutes the affection known as Stringhalt. DR. BUSTEED'S BELIEF. I must not omit to allude to the view taken of the matter by Dr. Busteed, of New York. This observer locates the malady in the astragalo-tibial articulation, where he has found appear- ances of an ulcerated condition. I do not think, however, the facts and observations upon which Dr. Busteed founds his hypothesis, sufficiently numerous, to characterise them as any- thing more than suggestions as to a possible cause in some occasional instances. PROFESSOR SPOONER'S STRICTURES. Professor Spooner has stated in his lectures that the appar- ently abnormal condition observed by Dr. Busteed is by no means uncommon in horses which have shown no tendency whatever to Stringhalt, or lameness of any kind whatever. His explanation of the phenomenal appearance observed by Dr. Busteed is, that arising from severe and protracted labor, or some other cause, there may be a deficiency of synovia in the joint, which would induce attrition in the deep sulcus where this lesion is always found ; and that the articular cartilage which is worn away by this attrition being non-sensitive, no inflammatory action ensues, as a rule, admitting possibly of some exceptions. Besides this, inordinate pressure upon the parts deprived of articular cartilage, would produce molecular ab~ 144 sorption ; and finally finding this connection so frequently in horses, both with and without Stringhalt, or even a noticeable lameness of any kind whatever, he negatives DR. BUSTEED'S CLAIM AS A DISCOVERER of the true cause or causes of Stringhalt. The seven isolated cases, which took twenty-three years to observe and record, even in the absence of other explanatory facts, certainly would not afford sufficient grounds for such a claim. EXPERIMENTAL FACTS. The mite of observation which I wish to contribute to the etiology of Stringhalt may be gleaned from the following ob- servations : In the course of practice, when operating for the removal of lameness in the fore feet, I have occasionally had a case that was the subject of Stringhalt. Whenever I have had such a case, I have experimented by softening and expanding the foot of the affected limb ; and I have never so experimented without perceiving some benefit from the operation. From these experiments I have been led to think it possible that one of the causes of Stringhalt at least may have its origin in mechanical pressure upon the nerves of the foot, excited, either by the entire hoof, or by some particular portion of it. A CURIOUS COINCIDENCE. If anything more than a very slight injury be inflicted upon the tendon of the Extensor Pedis, particularly at the point where it is inserted into the superior process of the os pedis, by the tread of a sharp calk or by any other accident, the suf- fering is more severe than when it is inflicted elsewhere upon the tendon, because of the inflammation causing an outward pressure against the superior margin of the wall of the hoof, and because the movements of progression seriously aggravates the lesion. If any doubt should exist as to the precise locale of the hurt, the peculiar manner in which the animal lifts its foot 145 and places it again upon the ground in walking indicates un- mistakably the precise seat of the trouble. This peculiar man- ner always reminds me of Stringhalt, it is so very similar to the peculiar jerk in the latter complaint. I have in former years had much trouble with such cases, and have known some to become absolutely incurable. Pressure from contraction of the hoof can be excited around its superior circumferent margin upon this very same tendon of the extensor pedis of the hind leg. Too much growth of horn at the toe from keeping the shoes on too long would also produce pressure against the Extensor tendon, and pinch or press it against the Superior process of the pedal bone just at the point of its insertion into that bone. I have been called to examine cases of inscrutable lameness where half a dozen veterinary surgeons had located the source of the lameness in as many different places, but when I had located the possible source of the lameness in the instep, at the very part I have indicated, and after lowering and shortening the toe, elevating the heel, and softening and expanding the hoof, the lameness has all disappeared in two or three days. Swinging aroufid the circle, as I have done, I have lost the run of my Stringhalt cases, and, therefore, I cannot say if after the lapse of time any of them were permanently benefitted or were susceptible of absolute cure. Here is a case probably, like some others, that falsify the notion, that when causes are re- moved the effects will cease. Habit, we all know, becomes a second nature, and I deem it likely that the habit of jerking up the leg in action has become of too fixed a nature to be entirely removed even after the original active cause has ceased to operate. THE WRITER'S SUGGESTION. Adopting this view, it is easy to conceive that, supposing pressure upon the nerve-filaments of the foot to have produced Stringhalt, and after it had existed for years, when that pres- sure has been removed, that habit has much to do with the continuance of the irregular action ; in this manner I regard 146 the condition termed knuckling. I can readily remove the cause, but I cannot so soon dispose of its effects. The liga- ments of the fetlock joint have become elongated and adapted to the requirements of the habit, and an absolute cure on account of this habit is tedious and difficult. Even so, I think, the ligaments of the hock-joint and the tendons of the muscles engaged in the Stringhalt movements, have become adapted by gradual and persistent abnormal tension to the perverted action of the muscles. Certainly, there is nothing in this view of the possible cause of Stringhalt to conflict with the views of Professors Spooner, Percival, and others who considered it a disease of the nervous system, but who probably never extended their inquiries beyond the leading trunks and branches, not suspecting that it may have been caused by irritation of the peripheral nerve-fibrillae in the remote region of the foot. This view, I think, may derive some countenance from the fact that tetanus is also a disease of the nervous system, and that the most frequent cause of this complaint is in connection with injuries to the feet. See the Article on Tetanus. SUMMARIZED STATEMENT OF THE AUTHOR'S THEORY. SUMMARY OF CHANGES. In this summary of changes that take place in the form and functions of the foot of the horse may be perceived the condi- tions out of which not only Laminitis, and Navicular Disease, but every other specific lesion of the foot may arise. INCIPIENT CONTRACTION produces impaired action, by undue lateral pressure of the wings of the coffin-bone, impairment of natural action being in proportion to the intensity of pressure. ADVANCED CONTRACTION causes undue pressure upon the lateral cartilages besides the pressure on the wings of the coffin-bone. The rotary and other movements of the foot within the hoof are thus impeded; attrition first, and subsequently, inflammatory action in the tissues, eventually leading to OSSIFICATION OF THE LATERAL CARTILAGES. LAMINITIS both chronic and recent, is the necessary sequent of an unsup- ported sole, by causing abnormal straining and morbid elon- gation of the laminae. These causes gradually weaken the laminal attachments, and very frequently lead to their discon- nection in what is commonly called Founder, and descent of the coffin-bone, producing the condition termed DROP-SOLE OR PUMICED FOOT. 148 NAVICULAR DISEASE both chronic and recent, is the product of contraction, which is associated with an ascended frog and wired in quarters. The result is a loss of substance and functions in the frog-tissues, and concussion to the bony constituents of the foot, whereby other specific lesions of the tissues composing the joint are directly or indirectly produced. RINGBONE is also the result of concussion, occasioned by the diminution or destruction of the elastic properties of the foot, induced in the first instance by contracted quarters, and a predisposing conformation of the pastern joint. CORNS are the products of lateral pressure, which gradually converts the naturally rounded inflection at the junction of bar and wall into an angular one ; the vascular and nerve-filaments becom- ing crushed between the sides of the angles near its point ; pressure on the nerves producing the pain and lameness ; and the rupture of the vessels causing extravasation of their con- tents into the horny sole at this spot. QUARTER-CRACK is invariably the result of that inverted order of things, whereby the quarters are contracted, which prevents their due expan- sion, when weight is thrown upon the foot in motion ; and are expanded where they ought rather to contract ; and hence the hoof splits from internal lateral pressure exerted in the wrong place. TOE-CRACK is caused by the tendency of the toe to expand, when and where it ought not to, in consequence of its reciprocal rela- tions to the heels and quarters. 149 FALSE-QUARTER, SHELLY FOOT, SEEDY-TOE, SCRATCHES, THRUSH OF THE FROG, AND CANKER OF THE SOLE. These morbid conditions of the foot of the horse, are the products of perverted, or vitiated secretions, arising from par- tial or total suspension of the secreting organs; the general cause of which being an unduly contracted hoof, and the par- ticular and proximate cause, direct pressure upon the organ or organs more immediately involved. GENERAL ATROPHY OF THE FOOT is the result of the same general cause, acting more equally over the whole of the foot, namely, morbid contraction, inter- fering with the vital processes of development, of nutrition, or of both. • ALL ACCIDENTAL AFFECTIONS OF THE FEET, SUCH AS TREADS, ERUISES, INJURIES FROM CALKING, QUITTORS, SUPPURATING CORNS, PICKING UP NAILS IN THE STREET, INJURIES FROM PRICKING, STABBING, CROWDING, ETC., IN SHOEING are all greatly aggravated and intensified by a morbidly con- tracted condition of the horny structures, which is proved by the fact, that softening and expanding those structures facil- itates the healing process in all of them in a most remarkable degree. CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL COMPLAINTS, AS TETANUS, PNEUMONIA, PLEURISY, GASTRITIS, ENTERITIS, GASTRO-ENTERITIS, AND SKIN AFFECTIONS. are known to have most important sympathetic and other re- lations with the internal tissues of the foot. Again, light has been thrown on these relations by the process of mechanical dilation of the quarter, showing, that in a morbid contraction of the horny textures lies the germ of many unsuspected mal- adies of the horse. 150 SWEENY, OR ATROPHY OF THE MUSCLES OF THE SHOULDER. THE CHEST AND THE ARM. is the almost necessary concomitant of an injury of any kind to the foot. But rarely is this condition due to any direct in- jury to the shoulder. The best proof of which is, that while the foot is affected, no measure of treatment will effectually remove the morbid conditions of the shoulder, etc., but as soon as the foot is easy, the muscles which govern its action gradually recover their tone and normal dimensions. CERTAIN ABNORMALTIES AND IRREGULARITIES OF ACTION, SUCH AS STUMBLING, POTTERING, DAISY-CUTTING, SHORT GAIT, BRUSH- ING, INTERFERING, SPEEDY-CUTTING, KNEE-STRIKING, HIGH- SPEEDY-CUTTING, DROPPING, SKIPPING, HITCHING, HOBBLING, BROKEN-GAIT, OVER-REACHING, GRABBING, CLICKING, FORGING, HAMMER-AND-PINCERING, STRINGHALT and the rest, can all be modified, and most of them completely changed to normal action, by simply softening and expanding the feet; proving beyond a peradventure, that morbid con- traction in some degree or form, is a cause, if not the cause of these abnormalties and irregularities of action. CONCLUSION. Such a theory, and such a treatise as this book presents, Professor Gamgee declared, ten years ago, had not then appeared " in either the earlier or later times." The Theory, as I have placed it before the reader, is the necessary sequence of the practical measures that accompany it. It is the result of a large number of operations upon every description of foot, and every variety of the foot-affections of horses. It is based upon no isolated cases, but an accumu- lation of facts ; facts of practice, experience, and demonstration. There is nothing far-fetched, or unreasonably conjectural about this theory. It meets every requirement. It is simple, intelligible, and demonstrable. It is in harmony with the facts of practice, and each is the complement of the other. What more is needed ? I found the practical measure a rough-and-ready one of very limited application, and it has revealed pathologicol secrets to my apprehension, which, as far as I am aware, have been vouchsafed to no other. I now regard it as the key to a science* the true nature of which, when it becomes sufficiently under- stood, and generally applied, will constitute a boon of no mean order to the equine race itself, and will, I verily believe, en- . hance in an eminent degree, the value of its services in the general interests of mankind. APPENDIX OF FORMULA. POULTICES AND POULTICES BOOTS. Equally important as mechanical dilation, is the process of softening the horny textures of the foot when they are hard and unyielding. To soften effectually the author recommends before all other means and appliances, the use of the LEATHER POULTICE BOOT. The best softening agent is flax-seed meal, wrought to the proper consistence by boiling, or hot water, in which a little soap, or lye, or washing soda has been dissolved. Success or failure almost exclusively depends upon the attention given to the softening process. An occasional bad case of Quittor, Canker, Thrush, Scratches and other diseased conditions where there is much fcetor and offensive discharges, may require the use of an ANTISEPTIC POULTICE. To the common poultice may be added any one of the fol- lowing Antiseptic agents : i. Solution of Chloride of Zinc, i drm. to y2 pint water. 2. " Carbolic Acid, i oz. to % pint water. 3. " Corrosive Sublimate, 1 drm. to 1 pint of hot water. 4. Chloride of Lime, in powder, 2 or 3 oz. 5. Charcoal, in powder, 2 or 3 oz. 6. Yeast, ^2 pint. Sometimes there is much pain and inflammation of the soft tissues of the foot and of the tendons and ligaments of the leg 153 in connection with it. In severe cases of this nature, it may be desirable to apply to the foot or leg, or to both, a NARCOTIG AND ANODYNE POULTICE. To the common poultice may be added any % one of the fol lowing ingredients, or even any combination of them : 7 8 9 TO II 12 14 r5 Tincture of Arnica, 2 or 3 oz. " Aconite Root, 2 or 3 oz. Wormwood, 2 or 3 oz. Camphor, 2 or 3 oz. Opium, 2 or 3 oz. Extract of Belladonna, 1 oz., dissolved in warm water. " Hyoscyamus, 1 oz. Boiled Hops make a cheap and excellent anodyne agent in a poultice, as also A decoction of Wormwood. u u (I FOMENTATIONS. When fomentations appear desirable, as in acute sprains of tendons and ligaments, from Nos. 7 to 13, either singly, or a combination of them in about equal proportions, added to an equal or double quantity of hot water, may be used with the very best effects. A rest for the foot in the form of a high heeled shoe is a most important requirement in these cases ; and if there is much swelling and inflammation around the re- gion of the coronary ligament, an expanding shoe should be placed on the foot, and the hoof slightly expanded. The soothing and discutient effects of moderately hot water are not to be overlooked. Nos. 14 and 15 are both powerfully sooth- ing and anodyne in their effects upon painfully inflamed tissues. L 154 LOTIONS. 1 6. MERCURIUS CORROSIVUS LOTION. Corosive sublimate, i drachm, Hot water, i pint. Useful in the reduction of ring-bones, bone-spavins, splents, side-bones, thickened tendons, etc. For these purposes it should be applied with friction of the hand for a day or two, morning and evening, or until soreness is produced ; when its application should be discontinued, the parts oiled, and washed with soap and water daily until the soreness is removed, when the process should be repeated until the object is attained. I have found this the most useful of all antiseptic and stim- ulant lotions in Quittors and other ulcerous affections, of the foot, such as Grease, Thrush, Canker, etc. 17. CHLORIDE OF ZINC LOTION. Chloride of Zinc, y2 ounce, Water, 1 pint. A very useful antiseptic stimulant in Quittors, and other ulcerous affections. IS. ARNICA LOTION. Tincture of Arnica, 2 ounces, Water, 1 pint. Good in all kinds of injuries from sprains, bruises, contu- sions, pricks from nails, blows, fractures, dislocations, etc. The undiluted tincture may be applied with advantage after cutting down upon Corns of a severely painful nature. 19. ARNICA AND ACONITE LOTION. Tincture of Arnica, 1 ounce, Tincture of Aconite Root, 1 ounce, Water, 1 pint. 155 Good in the same category of complaints as the last. I pre- fer to use it moderately hot in very painful and acute cases, keeping the affected parts constantly wet by means of a linen bandage, and giving support to the limb by means of a high- heeled shoe, at the same time carefully expanding the quarters where the soft-tissues are highly inflamed and create an evident pressure against the horny textures of the foot. 20. RHUS TOXICODENDRON LOTION. Tincture of Rhus Tox., 1 ounce, Water, 1 pint. I have known this to remove sore and weak ankles when other applications have failed. After the feet have been expanded, this lotion facilitates the removal of soreness and old rheumatic symptoms from the joints, the best of any, in conjunction with the frequent appli- cation of hot water. 21. GOULARD LOTION. Goulard's Extract, 2 drachms, Water, 1 pint, Spirits of Wine, 2 ounces. This is an excellent cooling and soothing application where the tissues have become inflamed by severe labor, or from the effects of stimulating applications when injudiciously employed. Keep the parts constantly moist with it by means of a linen bandage. 22. NITRATE OF LEAD LOTION. Nitrate of Lead, 1 drachm, Distilled water, 1 pint. Deodorizing and Cooling in Greasy ulcerous sores. 156 23- ACETATE OF ZINC LOTION. Acetate of Lead, i ounce, Sulphate of Zinc, i ounce, Water, i pint. A favorite formula with some, for the cure of Scratches, and for its cooling and repellant properties in general. LINIMENTS AND EMBROCATIONS. ■ Applications of the above nature are sometimes more con- venient to use than fomentations, and are preferred by many to lotions. They are especially useful in sprains and bruises, and in cases of rheumatism and enlargement of the pastern or knee joints. They will be found as useful in the human as in the equine patient. 24. CHLOROFORM LINIMENT. Chloroform, "1 Tincture of Camphor, r.r ,. ., - . >■ Ut each 2 oz. 1 Opium, Olive Oil or Glycerine, J 25. CAMPHOR LINIMENT. Camphor, 1 ounce, Spirits of Wine, 4 ounces, Glycerine, 4 ounces. 26. CAMPHOR AND FUSEL OIL LINIMENT. Spirits of Camphor, 2 ounces, Fusel Oil, 2 ounces, Water of Ammonia, 2 ounces, Tincture of Opium, 1 ounce, Tincture of Aconite, 1 ounce. 157 27- CAMPHOR AND CANTHARIDES LINIMENT. Camphorated Oil, 4 ounces, Tincture of Cantharides, 2 ounces, Oil of Turpentine, 2 ounces, Acetic Acid, 1 ounce. 28. CAJERJT EMBROCATION. Oil of Cajeput, 2 ounces, Camphor, 1 ounce, Almond Soap, 2 ounces, Alcohol, 1 pint. Dissolve the soap and camphor in the alcohol first, in a warm bath when nearly cold, add the cajeput oil, shaking the mix- ture well together until quite cold. This is especially good in deep-seated rheumatism and lumbago. LINIMENTS AND SALVES. For wounds, faruncles, treads, calks, grease, cracks, ulcers, etc., in the region of the foot. 29. CARBOLIC ACID LINIMENT. Carbolic Acid, 1 part, Glycerine, 1 part, Olive or Lard Oil, 4 parts. — Mix. 30. CARBOLIC ACID SALVE. Carbolic Acid, 1 ounce, Lard, 8 ounces, Add a little wax in warm weather. A crystal of magenta will give color. 158 31, LEAD AND ZINC SALVE. Acetate of Lead, % ounce, Oxide of Zinc, % ounce, Lard, 4 ounces. — Mix. 32. ALUM AND ZINC SALVE. Alum, 1 part, Carbonate of Zinc, 3 parts, Lard, 4 parts. — Mix. % 33. ALUM AND SULPHUR SALVE. Powdered Alum, 1 part, Sulphur, 2 parts, Lard, 3 parts. 34. LINIMENTS FOR CANKER AND THRUSH. Pine Tar, 4 ounces, Molasses, 2 ounces, Sulphuric or Nitric Acid, % ounce. 35. Subacetate of Copper, 4 ounces, Honey, % pound, Spirits of Wine, 2 ounces, Nitric Acid, 2 ounces. Melt the two first ingredients over a slow fire, and when cooling add the two last. Apply by means of pledgets of tow or cotton, dipped in either mixture, and procure genial pressure upon the sole, by means of careful packing, a stout leather sole, and a high- heeled shoe somewhat " drawn on " to the foot by judicious nailing. 159 POWDERS FOR SCRATCHES, CANKER AND THRUSH. They should all be reduced to the finest powder, and thor- oughly mixed and sifted through a very fine sieve, before application. These powders are also good for wounds gener- ally, and especially in joint wounds, where there is an escape of synovia, it is desirable to coagulate. 36. Carbonate of Zinc, 4 parts, Alum, 1 part. 37. Alum, 4 parts, Armenian bole, 1 part. 38. Burnt Alum, Dried Sulphate of Iron, Myrrh. — Equal parts. 39. Sulphate of Zinc, 2 ounces, Oxide of Zinc, 1 ounce. 40. Alum, 1 drachm, Charcoal, y2 ounce. 41. Burnt Alum, Sulphate of Zinc, Armenian bole White lead, Yellow Resin, Charcoal. — Of each 2 ounces. 160 POWDERS FOR CLEANING FOUL ULCERS, AND REPRESSING REDUNDANT GRANULATIONS IF THE FOREGOING ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY POWERFUL. 42. Acetate of Copper, Acetate of Lead. — Equal parts. 43. Sulphate of Zinc, Alum. — Equal parts. 44. Red Precipitate, Burnt Alum. — Equal parts. 45. Red Precipitate, Verdigris, Calamine. — Equal parts. 46. Powdered Quick Lime. QUITTOR DRESSINGS. These should be injected into the sinuses when practicable. On no account rasp or cut away the quarter of the wall affected, but carefully expand it, and cause the affected parts to be thoroughly permeated with the dressing by applying to them pledgets of tow or cotton saturated with the medicinal agent. 47. Bi-chloride of Mercury, 1 drachm, Water, nearly boiling, 1 pint. Dissolve in any vessel but a metal one. 48. Chloride of Zinc, 1 drachm, Water, 1 pint. 49. Sulphate of Zinc, 2 drachms, Water, 1 pint. 161 . 5°- Bi-chloride of Mercury, ^ ounce, Hydrochloric Acid, x/2 ounce, Liq. Plumbi Diacetatis, x y^ drachm, Spirits of Wine, t ounce. 5 i . Sulphuric Ether, i part, Iodine, 6 parts. 52. Corrosive Sublimate, % ounce, Diacetate of Lead, 1 ounce, Rectified Spirits of Wine, 4 ounces. BLISTERING APPLICATIONS. For Splents, Spavins, Ringbones, Side-bones, or Bony En- largements, Thickening of the Tendons, and the Skin, etc. 53. Corrosive Sublimate, 1 drachm, Boiling water, 1 pint. Prepare and use as before directed. 54. Iodine, 1 drachm, Strong Alcohol, 1 ounce. Paint over the enlargement with a small brush every two or three days as long as necessary. 55. Biniodide of Mercury, 1 part, Lard, 7 parts. The size of a hazel nut to be rubbed on daily. WThen tender or Scurf is produced, wash the part, and re-apply the Ointment as often as it is found necessary. 56. Corrosive Sublimate, 1 drachm, Tincture of Iodine, 1 ounce, Oil of Turpentine, 1 ounce, Finely powdered Cantharides, ^ ounce, Finely powdered Euphorbium, j£ ounce, Hog's lard, y2 pound. 162 Remove the hair with scissors. Apply with friction. The second day apply oil or lard. The fourth day wash off the scurf and repeat the process until the purpose is effected. BLISTERING APPLICATIONS FOR THE CORONET. Should such, however, be deemed necessary, no better can be found than No. 56. The effects of this blistering compound are not severe, but its potency may be lessened to any desired extent by the addi- tion thereto of hog's lard. No. 56 is a peculiarly valuable preparation, from the fact that the horse will not bite or gnaw the parts to which it is applied. It is also a useful external stimulant to the muscles of the shoulder, breast and arm, in the condition termed Sweeny. HOOF DRESSINGS. THEIR USE AND ABUSE. The writer's views are opposed to the indiscriminate and constant use of Hoof-dressings of whatever character or class upon feet that are perfectly sound, properly shod at regular and proper intervals of time, and otherwise well cared for by being kept clean, dry and cool, while standing in the stable. Greasy, unctuous applications to such feet that obstruct the perspiratory exhalations are, to him, an especial abomination. A small roll of damp cloth, lying loosely around the fetlock, and resting on the skin just over the coronary ligament, will do more to keep the horny wall cool and sufficiently moist than anything whatever that may be applied to the external surface of the wall. Under morbid conditions, when it becomes necessary to pro- mote the growth of the wall, stimulating applications should be applied to the secreting organs, rather than the secreted struc- tures. Any mild stimulant dressing applied around the cor- 163 onet about every other day, or as often as it can be done with- out blistering the skin, is sufficient to promote the growth of the wall, always provided, the coronary secreting ligament has plenty of room for the due exercise of its functions. This is essential to the growth of perfectly sound horny substance. The sole and the frog structures are secreted differently from that of the wall. The same conditions of plenty of roo?n for development and the free exercise of functions are just as essential in the former, as in the latter structures. When the full natural dimensions of the outer wall has been obtained by judicious expansion, then, and not till then will the sole and frog become developed, and this they will rapidly do under the influence of their own natural stimulus, namely, exercise; which may be aided by an occasional mild stimulant, dressing or stopping applied to the sole and frog. Only under a morbid condition of the foot and the plea of ignorance of anything better that can be done can the con- tinued use of Hoof dressings and the water and mud baths be justified. HOOF DRESSINGS. STIMULANT DRESSINGS FOR THE CORONARY LIGAMENTS. » 57. Strong Water of Ammonia, 1 part, Sweet Oil, 4 parts. 58. Cod Liver Oil, Kerosene Oil. — Equal parts. 59. Turpentine, Camphor, Sweet Oil. — Equal parts. 164 SOFTENING AND STIMULANT STOPPINGS FOR THE SOLE AND FROG. 60. Soft Soap, 4 ounces, Pine Tar, 1 pound, Flax Seed Meal, 2 pounds. 61. Common Axle Grease, 1 pound, Pine Tar, 1 pound, Flax Seed Meal, 2 pounds. 62. Pine Tar, 1 pound, Tallow, 1 pound, Flax Seed Meal, 2 pounds. To be worked into a stiff paste, and applied only to the sole and frog after thoroughly cleansing and drying the foot. HOOF OINTMENTS OR SALVES. After long continued poulticing, it may be necessary to dis- continue its use. Every part of the hoof, and an inch or two above it, may then be anointed occasionally with any of the following preparations, for the purpose of keeping up the emollient effects already attained : THE THREE T OINTMENT. 63. Tar, Tallow, Turpentine. — Equal parts. THE T. H. T. OINTMENT. 64. Tar, Honey, Tallow. — Equal parts. 165 SPOONER S HOOF OINTMENT, 65. Tar, 1 pound, Palm Oil, % pound, Oil of Turpentine, 1 ounce, Sulphuric Acid,' 1 ounce. Melt the two first ; when cooling add the two last. BOURGELAT'S HOOF OINTMENT. 66. Yellow Wax, Olive Oil, Lard, Veal Suet, Honey, Turpentine. — Equal parts. Colored with ivory black. FLESH AND HOOF OINTMENT- 67. Resin, 4 ounces, Wax, 4 ounces, Honey, 4 ounces, Lard, 8 ounces, Turpentine, 12 ounces. Melt together the four first ; when cooling add the last and stir till cold. FLESH AND HOOF SALVE. 68. Resin, 2 pounds, Linseed Oil, 1 pint, Coal Oil, 1 pint, Balsam of Fir, 4 ounces, Spirits of Turpentine, 2 ounces, Glycerine, 2 ounces, Carbolic Acid, 2 ounces. Dissolve all the ingredients together very carefully. CONSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT. Severe injuries to the Feet of Horses are sometimes attended by a disturbance of the system variously designated as Sys- temic Fever, Irritative Fever, Sympathetic Fever, Traumatic Fever, Acute Inflammatory Fever, etc. The pulse runs high, the respirations are rapid, the breath and tongue hot, the skin hot and cold by turns, the urine high-colored and scanty, the bowels constipated, and the appetite impaired. These are the prin-. cipal phenomena to be observed in this class of Fevers, and, of course, the intensity of the symptoms will accord with the sever- ity of the disturbing causes. These sympathetic manifestations constitute an index to the more or less serious character of the injury. As the wound improves these symptoms subside. In all foot-wounds, as well as those of the knee and the ischium, the vigilance of the experienced veterinarian keeps him constantly on the alert for the possible supervention of Tetanus or Lock-jaw. Some discrimination is needed in the treatment of the con- stitutional symptoms already referred to. If the systemic dis- turbance be slight the case may be left to nature. If at all pronounced, internal remedies become requisite. Such cases divide themselves into two classes, sthenic and asthenic j the first denoting strength, the last, the lack of it. Cases of the first class are those in which the patient may have been in robust health before the infliction of the injury. He might have been in good or even high condition ; or the system may have been gross from over feeding, or there may have been but a slight loss of blood from the injury, and the pulse, it may be, has increased in frequency to 70, 80 or 90 per minute, with a 167 full, strong and firm beat. Such cases call for depletive mea- sures. In other words a purgative or laxative dose of aloes > and an occasional dose of the chlorate or nitrate of potash will be both desirable and necessary. Cases of the second class in which the animal has lost much blood, and the pulse is quick, thin and thready, and there is prostration and trembling, and the vital powers feeble, require an opposite course of treatment ; repletive rather than deple- tive measures should be resorted to. The use of stimulants, such as Brandy, Wine, Beer, Aroma- tic Ammonia, &c, which arouse rather than depress the vital powers, are then indicated. If the animal is very weak, they are best given in gruel, if otherwise, diluted with water. If constipation is present, it should be overcome by frequent enemata of warm soapy water. In both classes of cases when there is much pain, sedatives may be given with propriety, such as Aconite, Arnica, Bella- donna, Hyoscyamus, Rhus Tox., and Opium. It has been a favorite practice with me to administer the same kind of medicine internally as that I have been using externally. Doses. The doses of the medicines alluded to in the foregoing brief notice, are as follow : i. Aloes in Solution. — Barbadoes Aloes 3, 4, 5 or 6 drachms in powder, according to size, age, and requirements of the patient. Place in a pint bottle, and add thereto half- pint of warm water in which a little Washing Soda or Saler- atus has been dissolved. Shake up well, and administer. 2. Aloes in Ball. — Barbadoes aloes, same as before, but made into a very stiff paste with a little common soap. 168 3. Nux Vomica. — After the action of the aloes has sub- sided the bowels may be kept tolerably regular by Powdered Nux Vomica half-drachm, morning and evening, given in a little water, or on the feed. 4. Chlorate of Potash. — One or two drachms morning and evening may be given on the feed, or in the drinking water, or the animal may be dosed with it dissolved in a few ounces of water. 5. Nitrate of Potash. — Same as the last. 6. Aromatic Ammonia. — The best stimulant when pro- curable, 4 to 6 drachms in a pint of cold water, twice daily. 7. Brandy in 2 or 3 ounce doses, suitably diluted with water. 8. Wine. — Same as the last. %• 9. Ale and Beer may be obtainable when other stimu- lants are not. These may be given in pint doses, without dilu- tion. The addition of a little powdered Ginger or Cayenne Pepper, or both, would be an improvement. 10. Aconite. — Tincture of Aconite Root, 5 or 10 drops, either placed on the tongue or given in water or gruel, should be given at intervals suitable to the requirements of the case. This agent must be discontinued as soon as any glucking noise is heard in the throat. 11. Arnica. — Give the Tincture in one drachm doses, 2 or 3 times a day in 2 ounces of water. 12. Belladonna is a favorite sedative with me in the fol- lowing formula : 169 • Strong Solution of Acetate of Ammonia, i oz., Nitric Ether, - i^oz., Tincture of Belladonna, 2 drms., Cold Water, - ^ pint. Morning and evening till the violent symptoms abate. 13. Hyoscyamus. — The same quantity of the tincture may be substituted for the Belladonna in the last formula. Is a favorite recipe with some. 14. — Rhus Tox. — This is an internal homeopathic remedy of great value in wounds of the tendons, ligaments, and liga- mentous structures. Rheumatic symptoms usually yield to this agent when properly used and understood. 10 drops of the Mother Tincture may be given in 1 or 2 ounces of water 3 or 4 times a day with the best effects. 15. Tincture of Opium. — This old-time remedy must not be over-looked. It has rendered good service to mankind, and I use it occasionally with the best results, as follows : Tincture of Opium, - - 1 oz., Nitric Ether, - I oz., Cold Water - - - 4 oz. H GLOSSARY. Abdomen. The belly. Abdominal. Belonging to the belly. Abnormal. Contrary to the natural condition. Absorbent. Sucking up or absorbing. Absorption. Sucking up. Abyss. Depth. Accessory. Muscles that assist the action of larger ones. Acclivity. A slope or ascent upwards. Action. A faculty or function of the body. Acumen. Quickness of perception. Ad infinitum. To infinity. Adjunctive. Assisting other remedies. Adult. Arrived at maturity. .JEgis. A shield. Affection. Synonomous with disease. Agglutination. A glueing or joining together. Aggregate. The sum, or whole of several particulars. Ala. A wing. Applied to parts from their resemblance to wings. Amateur, A lover. Anosmia. Deficiency of blood. Analagous. Applied to things different in their nature, but similar in func- tion. Anatomy. The dissection of organized bodies. Animal-economy. All matters relating to animal life. Anodyne. Medicines which assuage pain. Articular. Belonging to a joint. Articulation. A joint. Astragalus. The principal bone of the hock joint. Asttagalo-tibial. The articulation formed by the astragalus and tibia. Atrophy. Wasting, or emaciation. Defect of nutrition. Attrition. Rubbing against, and wearing by abrasion. 171 Apex. The point or top of a thing. Artery. A vessel conveying blood from the heart. A re hi form. Having the form of an arch. Areolar. Containing areola; or small spaces. Aponeurosis. Expansion of a tendon or tendons into a fibrous membrane. Anastomosis. The communication of branches of vessels with each other, Albuminous. Having, or of the nature of albumen. Antiphlogistic. Treatment intended to subdue inflammation. Aeupuneture. Puncturing with needles. Antiseptic. Preventing putrefaction. Analysis. The process of separating a compound substance into its con- stituents. B Brachial. Belonging to the arm. Bursa. A bag, or purse. Bursa Mucosa. A serous bag for secreting a substance (Synovia), to lubri. cate tendons and joints rendering their motion easy. Basement membrane. The undermost or fundamental membrane. Calcareous. Belonging to lime. Caliber. The diameter of a tube. The compass of mind. Capillary. Belonging to hair. Hair-like. Applied to a minute system of vessels which connects the arteries and veins. Caries. An ulceration of bone. Carpus. The knee joint. Cartilage. Commonly called gristle. Centre of gravity. That point of a body, by which, if it were freely sus- pended, all the parts would be equally balanced. Centre of motion. The same. Centre of rotation. The same. Cervical. Belonging to the neck. Circulus Arteriosus. The artery which runs round the foot. Circumferent. The line including and surrounding a thing, and forming a circle. Chorion. A membrane involving the foetus. Chronic. Long-continued ; opposed to acute. Co-arctation. A straightening, or pressing together. Commissure, Applied to the fissures of the frog. Compressioti. Flattening in a lateral direction. 172 Concussion. A violent shaking. Conformation. The natural form of a part. Congener. Belonging to the same kind or race. Congenital. From birth ; born with. Congestion. An unnatural accumulation of the usual contents of any ves- sels or ducts. Cohesive. Sticking together. Constitution. The general habit of the body. Contraction. The act of contracting, drawing together, or shrinking, the state of being contracted. Concavity. An internal rounded surface. Convex. Bent down on every side of a body. Connective tissue. Tissues that connect the different muscles, etc. Conical. Cone-shaped. Coronal. Resembling a crown. Coronary. Applied to a ligament that encircles a part like a crown. Corneous. Horny. Correlative. Having, or indicating a reciprocal relation. Cranial. Belonging to the cranium or skull. Cuboid. Resembling a cube. Cuticle. The epidermis, or scarf-skin. D Depletion. The use of means acting through the constitution in checking inflammation. Diametrically. Directly opposite. Diagnosis. The recognition of a disease by its symptoms. Diathesis. A particular state or disposition. Dilatation. An enlargement or expansion. Dilation. The same. Dilatator. Applied to instruments that enlarge or expand. Dilator. The same. Disease. Any departure from the state of health. Dislocation. Displacement of a bone of a movable articulation from its natural place. I Disintegration. Breaking down of structures, or destruction of function. Dorsal. Pertaining to the back. E Economy. System. Emollient. Softening. Empirical. Belonging to an empiric or quack. Empiricism. Quackery. 173 Engorgement. A state of vascular congestion. Enteritis. Inflammation of the bowels. Epidermis. The external covering of the body. The cuticle. Equine. Relating to the horse. Etiology. The causes of disease. Expansibility. The capability of being expanded. Expansion. The increase of bulk or of surface, of which natural bodies are susceptible. Extensor. An extender. Extravasation. The effusion of a fluid out of its proper vessel or receptacle. Exfoliation. Shedding off in flakes. Exostosis. Morbid growth of bone from bone. Excreta. Applied to matters voided from the animal system. Excito-motory. Exciting motion. A peculiar attribute of the spinal system of nerves. Epithelial. The cuticle covering a mucous membrane. Effluvia. Noisome exhalations perceived by the sense of smell Exudation. The oozing of fluids through the vascular walls. *Endosteum. The lining membrane of bones. Etymological. Relating to the derivation of a word Equilibrium. Equality of weight. Exhalents. Vessels that exhale or send out vapors. F Facilis decensus avernus. The road to evil is easy. Fascia. A tendinous expansion. Fibre. A minute thread or filament. Fibrillcs. Extremely fine threads only seen through the microscope. Fibrin. Coagulable lymph. Fibrinous. Having or partaking of fibrin. Fibro-cellular. Both fibrous and cellular. Fibro-elastic . Both fibrous and elastic. Filament. A delicate thread-like substance. Fissure. A deep depression. Follicles. Little bags. Foramen. A hole or opening. Foramina. Plural of foramen. Fragilitas. Ossium. Brittleness of bones. Frustum of a cpne. A cone with its apex cut off. Fulcrum. A stay, or prop. Function. A power or faculty by the exercise of which the vital phenomena are produced. Functional disease. Where the function of an organ is vitiated, but its structure remains natural- 174 G Gastric. Belonging to the stomach. Gastritis. Inflammation of the stomach. Gastro-intestinal. Belonging to the stomach and intestines. Gland. An organ for secreting or separating some particular fluid from the blood. Globular. Of a round form like a globe. Glutinous. Gluey, adhesive. H Hallucination. Mental error, or foolish imagination. Haversian Canals. Canals in bones first described by Haver. Hereditary. Transmissible from parents to offspring. Heterogeneous. Opposite by nature. Of different kinds. Hiatus. An opening. Hippedopathology. Pertaining to the diseases of horses' feet. Histology. The doctrine of the minute or ultimate structure and composi- tion of organized bodies. , Homologue. The same organ in different animals. Homogeneous. Of the same kind, or quality throughout. Horizontal. On a level. Humeral. Relating to the arm. Hygiene. The science of health. Hyperemia. Excess of blood in a part. Hypertrophy . Excessive growth, thickening, or enlargement of an organ. Hypothesis. A supposition. I • Idiopathic. Arising spontaneously. Inflammation. A state of disease characterized by redness, swelling, heat and pain. Inflection. Bent, or curved inwards. Intermittent. Disappearing and returning again at intervals. Interosseous. Between bones. Interperiosteal. Between periosteal membranes. Intertransposition. Transposition between parts or organs. Intertransmutation. Changes between parts or organs. Ipse Dixit. Dogmatic assertion. Lamella. A thin plate of some substance. Lamella:. Plural of lamella. Lamellar. Having thin plates. 175 Lamellated. The same. Lamina. A thin plate, a layer of some substance- Lamina. Plural of lamina. Luminal. Consisting of thin layers. Laminated. The same. Laminitis. Inflammation of the laminae. Lateral. On, or near the side. Lesion. Injury, hurt, or wound. Ligament. A gristly substance which unites bones at their extremities. Ligamenlozts. Of, or belonging to a ligament. Locomotive. Changing place. Lymph. The contents of lymphatic vessels. A product of inflammation. Lymphatics. Absorbents or vessels containing lymph. M Malformation. Deviation from the natural form of an organ. Matrix. A place where anything is generated or formed. Membrane. An expanded substance for the purpose of enclosing parts or organs. Medullary. Pertaining to marrow. Metacarpal. Beyond the knee-joint. Metastasis. Change of disease from one part to another. Metastastic. Relating to metastasis. Modus operandi. Mode of operation. Molecule- The smallest part of matter conceivable. Molecular. Consisting of molecules. Mollities Ossium. Undue softening of bone. Morbid. Diseased. Motory. Giving motion. Mucus. The fluid secreted by mucous membranes. Mucous membrane. The surface of the nostrils, mouth, windpipe, stomach and bowels. N Narcotic. Inducing sleep. Navicular. Having the appearance of a small boat. Naviculare, Os. The navicular bone. Necrosis. Ulceration of bone. Neuralgia. Pain in a nerve. Neurotomy. Division of a nerve. Nidus. A nest. Nomenclature. The proper arrangement and application of names. Nosology. Classification of diseases. 176 o Occult. Secret, hidden, unknown. Octogenarian. Eighty years old. Ocular. Known by the eye. Oleaginous. Of an oily nature. Organ. Natural instrument. Organism. Organic structure. Os. A bone. Os. Naviculare. The navicular bone. Ossification. Conversion into bone. Osseous. Of a bony nature. P Palliative. Mitigating, not removing. Parasitic. Living at another's expense. Paralysis. Loss, or diminution of the power of voluntary motion. Parieties. The walls, or sides of a cavity. Par excellence. By way of eminence. Papilla. Minute termination of a nerve. Papillce. Plural of papilla. Papillated. Having papillae. Pathology. A consideration of the nature and effects of diseases. Pedal. Belonging to a foot. Pectoral. Belonging to the breast. Pendulous. Hanging, not supported below. Perichondium. A membrane covering a cartilage. Periosteum. Membraneous covering of a bone. Peripheral. Towards the circumference. Perspiratory. Causing, or pertaining to perspiration. Phenomenon. In pathology, a morbid condition. Phenoetiena. Plural of phenomenon. Physiology. The natural constitution of things. Pigment. Color. Plantar. Belonging to the sole of the foot. Plexus. A little net-work of vessels or nerves, or of both. Pneumonia. Inflammation of the lungs. Post mortem. After death. Precursor. Forerunner, harbinger. Predisposing. Rendering susceptible to any condition or disease. Primary. Original, first. Prognosis. Knowledge of a disease. Proximate cause. The immediate existing cause of a disease. Pulmonary. Belonging to the lungs. Pyramidal process. Process resembling a pyramid. 177 R Receptaculum Chyli. The expanded portion of the thoracic duct. Resilience. The act of springing or leaping back. Reticular. Like a net. Rationale. Explanation of causes. Sebaceous. Fatty glands that secrete fat. Secerning. Separating or dividing. Secretion. The same. Secretaries. Organs that secrete. Sentient. Susceptible to sensation. Sensory. Imparting sensation. Sequela. A consequence, or sequel. Serous. Having, or full of serum. Serum. The watery portion of the blood. Silicious. Having silicia in its composition. Sinus. A cavity, hollow, or depression. Sine qua non. A necessary condition. Solar. Relating to the sole of the foot. Solution of continuity. Division of the skin or other textures by a blow, a cutting instrument, or ulceration. Spinal. Belonging to the back bone. Squamous. Scaly. Stellate. Pointed, or radiated, like the emblem of a star. Sthenic. Having strength, a robust condition of body. Stimulus. That which rouses or excites the energy of a part. Strictuxg. Term for contraction. Styptic. Having power to stop bleeding. Sub-acute. Less acute. Sub-cutaneous. Lying under the skin. Sub-structure, The under structure. Suffraginis os. The suffraginis bone. Large pastern bone. Sui generis. Of its own kind. Sulcus. A groove, furrow, or trench. Suppuration. A gathering of matter, festering. Sympathy. That intimate connection between one part of a body and the rest. Synovia. Commonly called joint-oil. 178 Tegument. In general, the skin. Tegumentary. Pertaining to the skin. Temperament. Peculiar constitution of the body. Temperature. Sensible heat. Tendon. The gristly termination of a muscle. Tendinous. Relating to a tendon, Tetanus. .Lock-jaw. Textures. In anatomy, animal structures and substances. Theory. A doctrine, scheme, or speculation. Therapeutics. The science of applied remedies for the cure of diseases. Thoracic Relating to the thorax. Thorax. The chest. Tissue. See textures. Tortuous. Twisted, winding. Tone. Healthy condition of muscles, etc. Tonics. Medicines which increase the tone of muscular fibre. Translucent, Penetrable to some extent by luminous rays. Traumatic. Belonging to a wound. Tumour. A morbid enlargement from whatever cause. Vaginal. Belonging to a sheath. Vasa vasorum. The very minute arteries and veins by which the substance of larger vessels is supplied with nourishment. Vascular. Having, or belonging to vessels. Venesection. Bleeding from a vein. Vermicular. Having the appearance of the progression of a worm. Vesicular. Belonging to, or having vesicles. Villus. Applied to small conical projections that secrete the various horn textures. Villi. Plural of villus. Viscera. The contents of the large cavities of the body, as the heart, lungs, stomach and intestines, etc. Visceral. Relating to those organs. Visual. Exercising the power of sight. Vitiated. Perverted, injured, deteriorated. Vivisection. The cutting into living animals. SPECIAL NOTIFICATION. Dr. J. B. Coleman hereby notifies the owners of valuable horses throughout the American States that, upon invitation, he will proceed to any readily accessible locality within the States for the purpose of giving instructions in his methods of treating the various foot-diseases of the horse. His instructions in- clude demonstrations upon the feet of horses suffering from maladies that are usually deemed incurable, such as the sup- posed Navicular Disease, Laminitis, etc. Horses having tender feet, or are the subjects only of Contraction, Corns, and Quar- ter-Crack ; it will be shown by actual demonstration are readily and quickly curable. He will stay sufficiently long in one locality to thoroughly induct his pupils into the whole rationale of the causes and treatment of foot diseases, than which, fully understood, nothing can be more simple and rational ; more perfectly adapted to accomplish the ends in view, or more easily acquired ; and a correct knowledge of which is of im- measurable value to owners of first-class stock. A general knowledge of these principles and processes will save millions worth of horse-stock from sacrifice or destruction; which means millions saved to individual and national gain. The author can save, and show others how to save, ninety- five per cent of all cases of so-called incurable diseases ; and cure rapidly, in a few weeks at most, the worst cases of Quarter- Crack, Corn, and Contraction. Such important information as this should no longer be kept secret. What would not some horse- owners give if their horses could be prevented from Interfering, Speedy-cutting, Knee-hitting, and other Irregular Actions, so as to dispense with boots and pads? That this is readily effected, is as demonstrable as that one and one make vtwo. The author enters into his work con amore, and strives 180 to make every one of his pupils as expert as himself, and more so, if possible. He feels confident that not one of his pupils has ever regret- ted the outlay of the small fee, for instruction, small in com- parison to the value of the information imparted, or part with the latter if he could, for twenty times the amount. DR. J. B. COLEMAN, Post Office Box 34, Chicago, Ills. TESTIMONIALS. HOW TO MAKE A BOOK." The writer prefers to depend upon the merits of his work for its extended sale and the employment of his personal services, both as a teacher and practitioner, than to the ad captandum mode of operations implied in the display of a large number of laudatory testimonials, while the desired and paid for infor- mation is non est inventus. This is the general character of a book published a few years since, whose title page would lead the purchaser to imagine that a. great secret was to be the equivalent for his five dollars; but instead of which he purchased a work that would have been better entitled, " A Collection of Letters and Extracts from Newspapers upon the Merits of a Method of Treatment for Horses' Feet ; " but the rationale of which method could only be imparted after a fee of from one hundred to five hundred dollars has been duly paid and pocketed. The amount of dis- appointment and profane swearing which has been occasioned by the sale of that book and its purchaser is not edifying to dwell upon. "the play without the part, of hamlet." The writer of this work believes that it will not belie the promises of its title page ; that it will not create disgust and disappointment ; that it will not be a mere collection of letters laudatory of a system with the system omitted ; the play of Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out, but that it will supply the long sought-for information ; the loudly-expressed want of all horse-owners of every class and description ; the most hu- mane and successful of all systems of treatment for the diseases of the feet of horses. 182 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The writer is indebted to his friends, Addison Doughty and Major Anthony, of this city, for a knowledge of the fact that his plans of treatment, besides its other merits, is a very large factor in the development of speed in the trotting horse, by its prevention, and correction, if present, of irregular action ; so much so that the usual upholstery work of boots and pads can be very largely if not entirely dispensed with. This fact alone enhances the value of his special treatment immensely ; and with the endorsement of the two foregoing names, he can afford to smile at the rabid hostility manifested by some so- called veterinarians and blacksmiths of this city, who cherish bar shoes and cripples, as institutions, or sources of profit of which, whoever dares to look doubtfully or speak lightly, should be immolated instanter. UNEXCEPTIONABLE TESTIMONY. It were easy for the writer to make a book of the letters and testimonials he has received, or may obtain, if he so desired, eulogistic of himself and his system. He hopes, however, the two following letters from well-known practical horsemen of Chicago, will be sufficient to satisfy the very proper desire some may entertain for testimony of this character, before they entrust valuable property into the hands of any one, of whose professional skill they are not themselves personally cognizant. LETTER FROM ADDISON DOUGHTY, ESQ. Training Stable, 404 Webster Avenue, ) Chicago, III., January 21, 1876. f Dr. Coleman : Dear Sir : — I am happy to bear testimony to the extreme value and importance of your methods of treatment for the various diseases to which the foot of the horse is liable. Since becoming your pupil, the knowledge of these methods 183 has been of immense advantage to me, as I have been enabled thereby to improve the speed of several otherwise fast horses, and notably that of "Woodford" and "Pinkie," in a remark- able degree. I have cured many cases of contraction, corn, and quarter-crack, since then, by these means, such cases giv- ing me no trouble whatever. I have made a remarkable cure of a mare, the short history of which was this : She had been badly foundered, had been five or six weeks in the hands of a doctor who had abandoned her as incurable — as the coffin- bones of her fore feet had become visible through the horny soles. I bought her for experimental purposes at a very low price. I have succeeded in re-instating the coffin-bones in their natural position, the feet are growing down sound, the mare being meanwhile perfectly free from the suspicion of lameness. As this statement may be doubted by some, any one doubting, or requiring any reference as to your capabilities in the premises, can have this statement verified by writing to me upon the matter. I would say that you have my most un- qualified endorsement as a perfect master of all matters per- taining to the foot of the horse and its diseases. If your forth- coming work contains the information I have derived from your personal instructions, it will be an invaluable boon to horse- men, and a blessing to horses of every class, from the trotter to the streeter. I further take pleasure in saying that I have good reasons for reposing confidence in your ability in the treatment of the con- stitutional maladies of the horse ; and I can say as much on behalf of my friends, whose very valuable animals you have treated with perfect success. In conclusion, I would add the expression of my opinion, that if your views and methods of shoeing both sound and lame horses were widely disseminated and generally adopted by horsemen, veterinary surgeons, and shoeing-smiths, diseases of the feet of horses would become exceedingly rare in a very short time. ADDISON DOUGHTY. 184 LETTER FROM R. C. ANTHONY. Boarding and Sale Stable, 133 Michigan Ave, ) Chicago, III., January 24, 1876. j Dr. J. B. Coleman, Dear Sir : — In compliance with your request for my opinion as to the value of the special modes of treatment which you practice and teach, I have to state that of nearly fifty cases that you have treated for me, or that I have treated after re- ceiving your instructions, I cannot recall a single instance of want of success in the treatment. They were all cases of foot diseases in some form or another, the greater part I should say were those of contraction, corns, and quarter-crack. Some were believed to have been navicular disease, but whether they were or not they became sound. One was a case of canker in which the sole and nearly the whole of the crust had separated, yet the canker was arrested and a new foot grown out, and the life of a valuable animal saved, which, I think, would have been impossible by any other means than those you adapted. Your clear insight into the general and particular causes of every malady that affects the foot of the horse, and above all your simple, rapid, painless and effective cure of cases usually deemed incurable, or of doubtful cure, such as Navicular Di- sease, Acute and Chronic Founder, and badly contracted feet, stamps you, in my estimation, as a genius in all that pertain to the foot of the horse whether in health or disease. No one can appreciate this statement until they have been in- structed by you in this special branch of horse-knowledge. I can safely recommend all horse-men, no matter what they know already, to avail themselves of your personal instructions upon this subject, feeling assured they will not be disappointed, nor regret the outlay. It is important that horse-men should be made aware of the very marked influence your treatment has over all irregular action, such as hitching, broken-gait, inter- fering, etc. Nothing conduces more powerfully to regulate and perfect action, and to the development of speed than the 185 treatment you advise. My mare, ' Pet,' a short time ago, could not be driven by any but myself without getting her gait 1 mixed up ' and her fore shoes picked off. Your treatment which is simplicity itself, has changed all that. You further desire my opinion upon the quality of the work which you are about to publish upon the foot of the horse. What I have seen of it in manuscript ; what I know of the in- formation to be obtained from veterinary works in general ; and my experience in horse-matters generally, enables me to say that it will be the best and most advanced work of its kind ever given to the public. Its utility to horse-men will be of the most valuable character, and I predict that we shall hear of greater achievements in speed than have hitherto been re- corded, when the principles and practice it inculcates in regard to the preservation of sound feet, and the restoration of diseased ones, come to be widely appreciated and carried into effect. R. C. ANTHONY. N THE DILATOR. The high price charged for a patented instrument of this nature which possesses no special advantage to make it a sine qua non, and the loss of time, trouble, and expense involved in getting one made by the ordinary blacksmith, has led the author of this work to have an instrument manufactured which is equally effective as the patented instrument, and can be sold at a much less price. It can be supplied, plain, for $3.00. Silver or Nickel plated, in leather case, for carrying in the pocket, $6.00. THE BOOK AND THE INSTRUMENT, Until agents, who are wanted everywhere, have been ap- pointed for the sale of the book and the instrument, they can only be obtained from the author. The book will be mailed free, to any address in the U. S., upon the receipt of three dollars. The instrument will be sent, by Express, to any address in the U. S., upon the receipt of three or six dollars respect- ively. The book and the instrument will be sent together, by Ex- press, upon receipt of stated prices. Booksellers ordering the book, or the instrument, or both, may deduct 10 per cent, for commission, but pre-payment is a pre-requisite of the order being attended to. 0 Post Office Orders should be made payable and all commun- ications addressed to DR. J. B. COLEMAN, Post Office Box 34, Chicago, III. NOTICE TO HORSE OWNERS. As many horse-owners of Chicago and elsewhere may desire to be informed where, and by whom the foot-diseases of the horse can rationally and successfully be treated upon the prin- ciples and methods of treatment advocated in this work, the author has pleasure in presenting the cards of two gentlemen who are thoroughly indoctrinated with the author's views and processes of treatment, and have effected some very remarkable cures themselves, and into whose care horses of value may be safely sent from any distance for special treatment with perfect confidence. The Horse-Shoers, whose cards are presented, have also been instructed in the author's theory and practice of shoeing the feet of both sound and lame horses. They have been his chief coadjutors in his practice in Chicago, upon the feet of all kinds of horses, whether of much or little value, and he can endorse them as skillful and efficient workmen. ADDISON DOUGHTY, BOARDING, BREAKING AND TRAINING STABLES. Nos. 402, 404, 406 and 4O8 Webster Ave., N. B. — Open for the reception of horses for the special treatment of foot diseases, upon Dr. Coleman's rational, radical and safe methods of cure. R C. ANTHONY, Boarding and Sale Stable, No. 133 Michigan Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. H orses crippled by contracted quarters, corns and quarter-crack, may be consigned to him for treatment, and an absolute cure guaranteed in from seven to thirty days, upon DR. COLEMAN'S METHOD OF TREATMENT. JAMES MADDE1T, PBACTICAL HORSE-SHOER, Rear of 43 14th Street, (Between Michigan and Wabash Avenues,) CHICAGO, ILL. His long general experience as a Horse-Shoer, together with the particular experience which he has gained under the instructions and directions of Dr. Coleman, for the removal of all the diseased conditions of horses' feet, and especially for the quick cure of Con- traction, Corn, Quarter-Crack, Quittors, etc., and the prevention and cure of Interfering, enable him to promise absolute satisfaction to the owners of horses requiring his services. N. B. — All horses shod under his own superintendence, and none but the most skillful workmen employed. ICHAEL KEADY, PRACTICAL HORSE-SHOER, 702 Larrabee Street, (Near Lincoln Avenue.) All kinds of Interfering and all Contractions, Split Hoofs and Corns guaranteed to be cured Ly Dr. Coleman's method of treatment. Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine 200 Westboro Road North Grafton, MA 01536